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Mom leaves kids in flooded house - always goes drinking

HELPING HANDS: These women, who sell takeaways opposite the house where the children were left alone, came to the rescue of the siblings pHOTO: Bafana Mahlangu
HELPING HANDS: These women, who sell takeaways opposite the house where the children were left alone, came to the rescue of the siblings pHOTO: Bafana Mahlangu

POLICE are investigating a 26-year-old mother who left her children aged one and three locked up in a flooded house for two days while she went drinking.

The kids were rescued by police on Tuesday after residents of Mkhathini Section in Tembisa intervened.

Police spokesman Constable Tebogo Sesing said they were called by one of the neighbours. They broke into the house and found the children in the sitting room.

"Part of the house was soaked in water and a heater had been left on. The bath tub was flowing with water and the tap was leaking. The house was in disarray," said Sesing.

Sesing said the children were taken to a place of safety and they were still looking for the mother.

A neighbour who did not want to be named said they realised that the children were alone when they heard them cry continuously at about 2pm.

"We were not surprised because she always leaves those children alone. They were crying because they were hungry. I went to the house with other women and we found that they were locked inside.

"We managed to open the front door but the burglar gate was locked. We had no choice but to feed them through the gate. We also changed the younger one's nappy through the burglar gate," she said.

The woman said the children slept alone in the dark.

"I am just tired of this woman. She puts drinking and boyfriends first. Some of us are struggling to conceive and she does not realise that she is blessed," the woman said, with tears running down her eyes.

An elderly neighbour who also did not want to be named said he tried to speak to her numerous times but it did not help.

He said the mother recently left the children alone for two days and he called the police.

He said police came and warned her, after which s he started taking the children to the tavern with her.

The neighbour said a few months earlier she left them with her friend and disappeared the whole weekend.

"She also lived with her elder son but his paternal grandparents took him when they learned she neglected them," said the neighbour. She is a beautiful young woman but she drinks alcohol like it is going out of fashion."

He said they have had enough of her and want social workers to take the children away before they die. "She does not cook for the children sometimes.

"They sit next to her at the tavern eating snacks while she drinks until the early hours of the morning. She does not love those children," the neighbour said.

The department of social development spokesman, Sello Mokoena, said they were investigating the matter.

"Child neglect is a serious offence. We strongly emphasise that parents need to make sure that children are always safe.

"We are going to investigate the matter further to see if we cannot help the mother as well," he said.

ratsatsip@sowetan.co.za

 

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