Mom dumps baby
A teenage mother has abandoned her one-year-old toddler because the child no longer fits into her lifestyle.
Thobeka (not her real name), a 19-year-old high school dropout, left the child with neighbours in Sophiatown informal settlement in Thembisa, Ekurhuleni, on Saturday morning, promising to return after an errand.
She never did.
She left a note explaining why she abandoned her son.
This was the second time in three weeks that the teenager had abandoned her baby.
Community volunteer Alice Godlolo called the police when the teenage mother failed to return as promised.
The child was taken to Thembisa Hospital on Monday, where he is being cared for while authorities decided what to do.
In a note in isiXhosa, Thobeka states: "The life I am going to live is not proper for a child."
The teenager reveals that she is still angry with her mother and other relatives for stopping her from having an abortion when she was three months pregnant.
"Remember, I wanted to have an abortion but you said I should not," she continued.
She says explicitly that her mother should not get custody of the toddler. Instead she wants him to be given up for adoption.
The teenager's mother told Sowetan her relationship with Thobeka was strained. She said the run-away mother had threatened to "throw the child down the drain" if forced to keep it.
"She has always threatened to kill herself and the baby. There have been times when I thought she would actually do it," she said.
She said continuous fighting between her and her boyfriend might have caused Thobeka to run away.
"There is a lot of fighting at home. I don't have a good relationship with my boyfriend."
Gauteng health and social development spokesperson Mandla Sidu said mothers who were unable to care for their children should find other options and not discard them.
"They can drop the children off at children's homes. If there is anyone who wants to care for the child they can also approach our social workers who will then institute investigations into the circumstances of the child," Sidu said.
Another child aged between one and three months was discovered in Mayibuye section of Thembisa.
Rabie Ridge police spokesperson, Warrant Officer Cedric Mphahlele, said they handled five to six cases of abandoned children a month. He said this may have to do with the proximity of the station to a waste dump where babies are sometimes abandoned.
Joseng
So lame and so so stupid, do you think you fit in your mother's life style, think before doing you s**t, the woman deserves a community beatingReport Abuse
1malesia
Though I do not personally condone abortion and kids being abundened, I believe in this situation the girl should have been listened to. She clearly did not want that child.The needs of this child should have been prepared for by the grandmother (girl's mother) as she insisted the girl keep the child.
I hope she has given that girl lessons on birth control!
Report Abuse
Joseng
@1malesia,Didnt she know the results when she was busy openning her legs enjoying the joly ride, women sometime are irresponsible, she must take full responsibility, thats the result if you dont use condoms... that no excuse, i differ with u 1malesia, big time, nothing personalReport Abuse
Amogoro
1malesia I agree with you 100%, this girl made it clear about her choice with regards to the pregnancy but nobody listened, we have reasons why abortions was legalised in our country. She is even decent enough she did not kill the baby or throw the baby in the dumps. She even had the time to write the letter to explain her actions, nogal she left the baby not with total strangers but with neighbours. Sometimes it is us as the parents that contributes to the way we grow our children. Die appel val nie ver van die boom af.Report Abuse
Menina11
not saying what the girl did is good but where is the BF at this stage? Typical of them to run away!Joseng
The father also enjoyed the "joly ride", therefore the two of them should be blamed.
Report Abuse
clint
open your legs without a condom and u will have a child or disease, or maybe both.finish and klarReport Abuse
Joseng
@Menina11, you me, i surrender my case, they were both irresponsible... Wish everyone was responsible like me u know, heheheheReport Abuse
JerseyNo10
Ba phapha ba rata go jewa and then they dont want to be reponsible for thier actions.Report Abuse
