OVER the past two years nearly 100 babies have been abandoned in the province. Jenine Kammies knows the pain of being abandoned as a baby. She was abandoned in 1977 and is now on a search to find her birth parents.
Kammies was a newborn baby when she was left at Bonteheuwel train station 44 years ago.
For the first time in four decades, Kammies took her search to social media for her birth mother after both her adoptive parents died.
Kammies, who now lives in Clanwilliam, is one of many cases of children who are abandoned by their caregivers and parents annually in the Western Cape.
The Department of Social Development confirmed 93 children were abandoned in the Western Cape from April 2019 to March 2021 alone. These include children who were abandoned by their parents or caregivers or grandparents.
The Weekend Argus spoke to Kammies about her quest after she approached the organisation TracknTrace Public Group.
Kammies was found wrapped in a yellow blanket with a head full of hair.
She is mother to three children and two grandchildren and works at an old-age home.
Her adoptive parents, the Kammies family, were always open about her adoption and where she was found.
“I never had the confidence to search for more before, and after my parents died I was alone. But this year, I had an overwhelming feeling to find answers about my birth mother. I decided to make a Facebook post.”
Kammies said there were very few details about her abandonment but she managed to get one lead: security guard who had worked at the train station during the 1970s.
“I was told I was wrapped in a yellow shawl and that I had a head full of hair. I don’t know who found me. When I placed (my post) it on Facebook, a security guard who worked with the man who found me contacted me saying he knew the person who had found me, but that person had passed away. I lost contact with that person.”
She said she was born between December 30, 1976 and January 2, 1977.
Kammies believes her mother lives in either Bishop Lavis, Bonteheuwel or Belhar.
She said she and her two daughters and a grandchild had identical dimples, and that she had a strawberry-shaped birthmark.
Spokesperson for the Minister of Social Development, Minister Sharna Fernandez, Joshua Chigome, said they were constantly appealing to mothers and caregivers to reach out if they were unable to take care of their children.
He added that between April 2019 and March this year 46 children were abandoned, while between April last year and March this year 26 children were abandoned in the Western Cape.
“The Department of Social Development (DSD) understands that often circumstances which lead to mothers dumping their babies can be complex,” said Chigome.
“We appeal to all expectant mothers who are unable to take care of their babies to seek assistance, either at any free clinic, or to approach their nearest DSD local office or child-designated non-profit organisation to speak to a social worker who may be able to assist with information about options suitable to the individual’s circumstances.
“It’s important to note that not all of these abandonments are necessarily babies abandoned by mothers, for example, left on a field or in bins etc. These figures also include children abandoned by alternate caregivers, such as grandparents and foster parents.
“Feedback received from the Child Death Review Panel is that dumping babies seems primarily linked to perinatal mental health challenges such as post-partum depression and psychosis, and women who have poor support systems are most at risk.”
Lucinda Evans, who runs the Lavender Hill Baby Saver at her home in Hilary Drive, has helped four babies who were abandoned.
In 2016, a newborn baby was left on Evans’s doorstep with the umbilical cord still attached, inside a shopping bag, and in 2017, a one-year-old child was found abandoned at her home.
“We had a case this year where a baby was left here and we still have the baby saver here at my home. I hope to move the baby saver to the woman’s centre in Steenberg once the electricity is sorted out.”
Candice van der Rheede, founder and director of the Western Cape Missing Persons Unit said they were constantly dealing with children who were abandoned. She recalled a case last September where a two-week old baby boy was found alive in a dirt bin in the Cape Town CBD covered in a purple blanket with the umbilical cord still attached. The case was handed over to DSD and police.
“A passer by found him in the bin. We are also calling for more contraception drives to take place in our communities for unwanted pregnancies,” she said.
Weekend Argus