Orphaned and other vulnerable children are under siege. The paralysing number of children from disadvantaged backgrounds seems to be swelling every year.

Orphaned and other vulnerable children are under siege. The paralysing number of children from disadvantaged backgrounds seems to be swelling every year.

The status quo persists despite the gospel of a booming economy.

I am appalled and feel insulted that our children, including those living with HIV, are suffering and dying like flies.

For example, I do not understand how a woman by the name of Carol Dyantyi, who is the Director of Ikageng-Itireleng, can end up having to care for 1800 children.

It baffles my mind and it troubles my soul that children can become statistics of abject poverty as soon as they are brought into this world.

I admire the fact there are ordinary angels out there who are prepared to go the extra mile in bringing shelter and finding food and other necessary resources for these poor African children.

But I cannot accept that people can just have sex, impregnate women and then not take responsibility for the living outcomes.

All over the world it seems that those who are from poor backgrounds are the ones who tend to bear more children.

They add more responsibilities to their lives, which they fail to keep up with, and then plead poverty.

They turn around and accuse governments and volunteer caregivers of not doing enough.

I think and religiously believe this the worst form of selfishness and greed. It is the worst kind of corruption. It is unacceptable.

It is pathetic. It is scandalous.

The unfortunate and regrettable reality is that these very irresponsible so-called parents can afford to be drunk week in and week out.

They can afford to buy the most expensive drugs. They can afford whiskeys and wines to drown their self-made sorrows.

Yet these people want to take us on an emotional roller coaster where we must feel pity for them.

I think that the Department of Social Services and the government in general need to review and tighten the criteria for accessing grants because it is inexcusable and unsustainable that people can have as many children as they wish when they are not in any position to care for them.

I realise that the government is caught between a rock and a very hard place. It is the same situation I find myself in because I am inundated with requests for help on a daily basis, mostly from people living with HIV.

I cannot turn those children away but at the same time I cannot condone such grossly inexcusable misbehaviour.

I am aware that all of us have rights, such as the right to reproductive health, but all of us have to comprehend that every right comes with responsibilities and that every action has consequences.

As we speak, winter is with us and my immune system gets grossly depressed every time a homeless child has to embrace a brazier fire when that child should be at home surrounded by the warmth and unconditional love of their siblings.