Durban - A Verulam mother who dumped her newborn baby in a black garbage bag and left the child on the roadside to be picked up by waste services has escaped jail time.
The 31-year-old woman who cannot be named as she has two other minor children, was sentenced to 6 years imprisonment, wholly suspended for 5 years, on condition that she is not convicted of the same crime.
She pleaded guilty to attempted murder in April this year.
The woman seemed relieved as she stood in the dock at Verulam Magistrate's Court on Wednesday.
In her guilty plea the woman said she that she knew that child was alive when she dumped the baby and said she expected the baby to have been removed by the waste services.
She said she delivered her baby in the bathroom of her home on her own in January this year, and thereafter wrapped the newborn in her clothing before placing the child in a bin packet and leaving the child on the road.
She conceded that her actions were unlawful.
She was arrested by a private security company moments later.
In passing sentence Magistrate Betty Rawheath ordered that she undergo 5 years of correctional supervision.
Magistrate Rawheath added the sentence should by no means be viewed as "a light one."
"It is important for you (the accused) and members of society who are interested in this case to understand that no two people can be sentenced exactly the same, because no two people have exactly the same circumstances."
Magistrate Rawheath said the court had considered her circumstances rather carefully and did not think a jail term would serve a "good purpose".
"A jail sentence must serve a good purpose. If it does not, then there is no point in imposing one. In your case it might not necessarily fix the situation and might actually cause you to regress and we want to avoid you falling into that same situation you are in now," Rawheath said the accused.
The biological father has custody of the baby.