Cape Town Child Welfare says sexual abuse cases are up from last year, with most of its cases in the greater Athlone area.
Last month, and in the first week of this month, 38 cases were reported to the organisation. Twenty-four children across the city were abandoned.
Sexual abuse included rape, said Child Welfare CEO Niresh Ramklass, while child abandonment included babies being dumped.
In the financial year April 2010 to March, the organisation dealt with 103 cases of sexual abuse and 239 cases of abandonment.
In Athlone, 35 children were sexually abused and 145 abandoned last year. In Lotus River, Ottery, Philippi and Pelican Park, there were 31 sexual abuse cases, 11 in Hanover Park and 10 in Hout Bay.
In Khayelitsha, there were 29 cases of abandonment, 24 in Philippi East and 14 in Ottery, Lotus River and Pelican Park.
Athlone ward councillor Suzette Little said an education forum would be set up with a focus on social issues fuelling abuse and the abandonment of children. - Cape Argus