Alfred Moselakgomo

Alfred Moselakgomo

The police have launched a manhunt for a teenage girl after a newborn baby was found abandoned in the bush.

Last week Sowetan reported that two young boys from Lefiso village, near Marapyane in Mpumalanga, became heroes in their village when they saved the newborn baby girl.

The baby is in a healthy condition in hospital.

Frank Moloantoa and John Ndala were on their way to check a snare they had placed in the bush near the village of GaMaria at 3pm on Wednesday.

Their dogs began barking at something and when they went to investigate, the boys found a naked newborn baby wrapped in a cloth and covered in tree branches.

Scared by her condition because the baby was not washed and still had blood all over its body, they ran to a local clinic and alerted the health workers.

"We don't think we deserve to be called heroes," Ndala said.

"Anyone in that position would have done the same."

When Sowetan visited the baby in hospital at the weekend the tiny tot was lying with a doll in her single room.

She is being looked after by governmental social workers in Mmametlhake.

Inspector Veli Semenya said the police are working around the clock to arrest the mother who is believed to have fled after abandoning the baby.

"We believe that someone somewhere saw something and appeal to them to come forward," he said.