A Steenberg non-profit organisation, for the second year running, is operating a care facility for lost and abandoned children this festive season.
The Philisa Abafazi Bethu (PAB) NPO runs a 24-hour facility to enable members of the public to drop off lost children as of December 15 until January 14.
Children lost at beaches or picked up anywhere near the Steenberg area can be taken to the facility and officials from the Department of Social Development will be informed while the children are being taken care of.
During last year’s festive season, the centre received nine children that were abandoned and a majority of them were found on the beach – including one infant.
“We have got an emergency safe house mother, who will supervise the children. We will then let social development know so that parents can collect their children safely (from) social workers or the police,” said PAB founder Lucinda Evans.
“You will find out that children get lost because parents are drinking and they are not watching the children. So we are saying to the community that ’if you pick up a child, come straight to our centre in number 57, Strauss Avenue (Steenberg)’. We will get police and social development while we are supervising the child – until the parent is found,” she said.
Evans also runs an emergency gender-based violence safe house and an LGBTQ emergency house to provide a temporary shelter for victims.
Social Development spokesperson Joshua Chigome said that “no child should be left behind”. He urged the public to contact the department or a child protection agency, should a child go missing this festive season.
Ward 68 councillor Marita Petersen said Evans made a “fantastic” decision by making her organisation available to save the lives of abandoned children
She encouraged parents to be responsible and urged law enforcement to hold the irresponsible ones accountable.
“Parents must take responsibility for their children. It is necessary that children must be in the safe hands of their parents and (for parents to) stop handing over their children to somebody else to take care of them.
“The authorities need to zoom in on the (issue of) irresponsible parents as well and hold them accountable for neglecting their children,” said Petersen.