Johannesburg - The quick response of two Metrobus drivers saved the life of an abandoned newborn baby boy in Joburg’s city centre on Friday night.
The two drivers - Samuel Phumane and Mashudu Mavhutha - were driving on the corner of Rissik and Pritchard streets when they saw a woman drop what appeared to be a baby, on the pavement.
City of Joburg’s member of the mayoral committee (MMC) for public safety, Michael Sun, said the pair noticed that the woman first picked the child up, then dropped him again and carried on walking.
“Mashudu picked up the baby while Samuel pursued the woman on foot and forced her to stop. He called the Joburg metro police department, who dispatched officers to fetch the baby,” he said.
The 20-year-old woman was arrested on the scene and charged with child abandonment and neglect.
Sun said from the hospital records produced by the mother, it showed that the baby was only born that morning, and had not yet been given a name.
Sun commended both the drivers and the Joburg metro police’s Inspector Kinsane Maswanganyi for their heroic deeds.
“We are grateful for the observant and quick caring reaction of Samuel and Mashudu, they have gone beyond their call of duty as Metrobus drivers of the city. They are true heroes of our city,” he said.
The infant was handed to the Child Protection Services and is now in a place of safety, Sun
said.
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