More and more babies dumped
AT LEAST 10 babies are abandoned in Gauteng every month, said the Johannesburg Child Welfare yesterday.
"We get between 10 and 15 abandoned babies every month, mostly in June and July, possibly because of the cold weather," said Kudzai Chimango, a social worker at the Johannesburg Child Welfare.
Megan Briede, acting Gauteng coordinator of Child Welfare SA, told Sowetan earlier this year that between 2000 and 2300 cases of child abandonment and neglect had been recorded over the past three years, an increase of between 8percent and 10percent year-on-year.
The majority of children are below the age of 10.
Chimango attributes the abandonment of babies to lack of knowledge of the resources that are available to mothers.
"Most of the women who come forward are teenagers, school-going girls and mainly single and unemployed mothers who have been abandoned by their partners," she said.
These statistics come after the emergency child abandonment summit that was held in Cape Town earlier this week, where Western Cape MEC for social development Patricia de Lille reported that about 438 babies were abandoned from the beginning of the year to March.
According to Dr Simone Honikman, head of Perinatal Mental Health Project at the University of Cape Town, in developed countries, the prevalence of pre- and post-natal depression in women is between 10 and 15percent, whereas it is between 30 and 50percent in South Africa.
"Depression is much higher under extreme circumstances, where mothers don't have a partner and they don't even know where their next meal will come from," said Honikman.
Resources that are in place to support mothers are very limited, according to Honikman, and the mental health of the mothers is completely ignored.
"There is very limited systematic screening that takes place, it needs to be everywhere because mental illness and poverty can play a factor in child abandonment."
lagoodlife
Influx to the big city has become huge more industries should be build outside Gauteng province. Premiers also try to attract investors to their provinces not only the president of the countryReport Abuse
MrBean
Dont we have condoms for heaven sake? This is a clear indication that people are not afraid of dreadful deceases.Report Abuse
maditaba
@lagoodlife- I totaly agree. This whole thing of people forced to abandon their homes in search of work is not right.I think illegal immigrants also increase the problem. If a woman is in the country illegally and have a baby she cannot take care of there is no way she is gonna go to authorities for help. And also women who are in the country illegaly cannot go to the clinics for contraceptions
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Seashell
Condomise!Eish-people still dont believe in Condoms-its a shame cos the little angels have to suffer-growing up without their biological mothers.I Hope they get raised well and grow up in beautiful homes.Report Abuse
ShukskaShudu
I find this very disturbing; how can a woman fall pregnent when there's free clinics giving contraceptives and free condoms, I think it's total ignorance, can you imagine carrying a baby for nine months in your womb only to abandon him/her, eeish May God have mercy on these women *sad*Report Abuse
NTANDA
I wish I can take all the poor kids and give them home. Why getting pregnant if you are not ready sies woman sometime ngosatana uqobo!Report Abuse
Mazakes
it is all good and well that we are able to come up with such stats. maybe the government should establish if these abondoned kids are south african or not.@maditaba - if what you have pointed out is anything to go by, we surely have a huge number of illegal immigrants in this country. this has in turn pushed our population figures sky high. it also has increased the figures for crime rate, unemployment, etc.
@i had always held women species as very intelligent, but i am perplixed by their unfailing will to bear children knowingly they will not be able to take care of.
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TKay
Again we blame men for lack of responsibility, if men were to be responsible for their actions we will have less abandoned babies.Report Abuse