Durban - DESPITE more baby safes being installed across KwaZulu-Natal, they are not being used and babies are still being abandoned in drains, roadways, bins and outside places of safety.
A new baby safe was recently installed on the South Coast, at the Port Shepstone Baptist Church, and many other baby safes can be found across Durban.
Those advocating for safer child abandonment options said the lack of knowledge, laws and fears of getting caught or identified have caused mothers to bypass baby safes.
According to a research study on child abandonment and adoption in the context of African ancestral beliefs in contemporary urban South Africa, by activist and researcher Dee Blackie, anonymous child abandonment was criminalised and mothers faced a range of charges, such as concealment of birth and attempted murder.
Moreover, baby safes were considered illegal in terms of the Children’s Act.
Isiaiah 54 Children’s Sanctuary founder Glynnis Dauth said the biggest problem facing baby safes was that child abandonment was illegal and baby safes had to be advertised on the quiet.
Dauth said laws needed to be changed because legally, it was said that baby safes were encouraging abandonment, therefore they had to rely on clinics.
“Baby safes are better because mothers who dump their babies in the street or drain face criminal charges,” said Dauth.
The Domino Foundation crisis mother, Precious Thabethe, said the baby safe was a new and misunderstood concept.
“Our people (black South Africans) who abandon their babies don’t know how the baby safe works. Even if they saw the box, they don’t know whether there are cameras recording them or how long the baby will be in the safe.”
She said even with the baby safe installed, they had two women abandon their babies outside the home, one baby at midnight and another during the day. She has never heard of a baby being placed in a safe.
“There is no camera when you leave the baby and it reports to the owner of the home. Instead, people leave clothing parcels and food,” said Thabethe.
Likhon iThemba founder Leanne Lorrance said their safe in Glenwood was yet to be used and they had already started making plans to install a second safe in KZN, but Covid-19 had halted their plans.
Lorrance said people were probably afraid of getting caught, but she did not understand why that was the case in KZN, because baby safes were used often in Cape Town and Johannesburg.
“I think we need to make people aware that there are better options than leaving babies in dustbins.”
Daily News