Cape Town - For every abandoned baby found alive, two babies are found dead.
While police say they have observed an increase in child neglect and abandonment cases, organisations are desperate for interventions.
In the most recent case, a baby was found dumped in a drain last week in Delft and police are investigating a concealment of birth case.
Door of Hope operations director Nadene Grabham said she believes baby abandonment has increased over the last few years.
“I have kept a record of published news articles about abandoned babies since lockdown, in March 2020, and I have collected 226 articles about abandoned babies found. Out of these 226, 135 babies were found dead. These are just from published news articles, many such cases do not even make the news, this number is most probably much higher.
“Unfortunately, there are no proper statistics in SA on baby abandonment. Varying factors make it difficult to get stats but private research done in 2010 and 2016 by child protection activist, Dee Blackie, showed us that around 3 500 babies are abandoned annually in South Africa and for every baby found alive, two are found dead, but how many abandoned babies are never found?” Grabham asked.
This year, Door of Hope has taken in 27 babies, of which six were found abandoned and four came through their baby saver.
“Since the Door of Hope baby saver was installed in 1999, we have received 255 and around 470 babies have come through various savers across South Africa,” said Grabham.
She added that baby abandonment is a serious social issue in South Africa and there are various reasons for it, such as restrictive legislation where there are no safe haven laws, poverty, mass urbanisation, lack of paternal as well as family support, substance abuse, HIV/Aids, prostitution, rape, gender-based violence and failed illegal abortions. There factors lead to safe and unsafe child abandonment.
The Door of Hope has compiled and submitted a proposal to parliament to legalise safe relinquishment through baby savers as a matter of urgency.
“Our Constitution states that everyone has the right to life, unsafe abandonment takes away this right. Legalising safe relinquishment through a baby saver will reinstate this right. No baby should be left somewhere to die because the system failed the parent,” said Grabham.
SAPS spokesperson, Brigadier Novela Potelwa said they have observed an increase in the number of child neglect and abandonment cases over the past few years.
“Through our specialist detectives located within the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences unit, in partnership with community-based organisations and government entities, campaigns, as well as awareness initiatives, are embarked upon with a view to dealing with child safety,” she said.
Potelwa added that where a pattern of child abuse/and abandonment is picked up, a holistic assessment of the situation involving various role-players is undertaken and sustainable interventions implemented.
According to the Department of Social Development (DSD), more than 100 babies have been abandoned in the province between 2019 and March.
Spokesperson for the department, Joshua Chigome stressed that it was a crime for parents, legal guardians or caregivers to desert a child for no reason.
“While this is a growing problem, few know that it is a crime for a parent, legal guardian or caregiver to desert a child for no reason without any contact for three months. Of course, the law is supposed to protect the rights of children, and there are legal consequences for anyone who is found guilty of abandoning a child,” he said.
Chigome added that there are various reasons that parents abandon their children.
“The department notes that the primary reasons include financial issues, lack of family support, unwanted pregnancy, resentment of/towards the baby and fear of judgement from family members,” he said.
The legal rights of infants and minors are protected by the Children’s Act 38 of 2005.
The department indicated that from April 2019 to March 2020 they had 47 cases of abandoned babies, whereas from April 2020 to March 2021 there were 24 and from April 2021 to March 2022 there were 39.
“It is important to note that not all of these abandonments are necessarily babies abandoned, for example, left on a field or in bins etc. These figures also include children abandoned by alternate caregivers such as grandparents, foster parents etc,”’ said Chigome.
He added that when a case of child abandonment is reported to a child protection organisation, the child protection protocol is activated, and the matter is assigned to a designated social worker for further investigation. This would include conducting a safety and risk assessment of the abandoned baby as well as their placement into temporary safe care, pending further statutory processes.
“The Department of Social Development would advise a parent who cannot cope with their newborn babies or toddlers to make contact with their nearest designated child protection agency who operates in their area for counselling services and advice, or request child protection services, if needed. The parent may also contact a health-care professional at their local community health centre or contact SAPS,” added Chigome.
Baby Saver Helderberg founder, Sandy Immelan said that they would receive about one baby a year and now they have received three in just three months.
“There is a need for more help and counsellors for women,” she said.
Die Moses Mandjie Baby Rescue co-founder, Monique Snyman in Worcester said they saw a need to open after five babies were abandoned in the last 12 months. Out of five, four were found dead.
“We opened two weeks ago after a baby was found dead on April 6 near our offices. The community is impoverished and this is one of the reasons for abandonment,” she said.
Social worker Ulen Afrika for Hartlands Baby Sanctury mentioned they were also deeply concerned for mothers who do not have support and resort to abandoning their babies.
“Most of the babies we get are babies that are not abandoned in the community, but in hospitals,” she said.
It was reported that The National Adoption Coalition of South Africa found 34 infants alive and 49 dead out of a total of 83 in 2020.