A 21-year-old mother and her 19-year-old friend who allegedly filmed themselves encouraging a toddler to down alcohol and smoke dagga have been granted bail.

The pair appeared in the Dzanani magistrate’s court in Limpopo on Thursday.

They were released on bail of R2,000 each, said police spokesperson Brig Motlafela Mojapelo.

“They are expected back in court on September 30 2020. The bail conditions are that they cannot access the child, who has been moved to a place of safety, and should not interfere with police investigations,” said Mojapelo.

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said they faced two charges.

“They face charges of contravening the Children’s Act, 38 of 2005 [child abuse] and contravening the Disaster Management Act 57 of 2002 [related to alcohol and smoking],”  said NPA spokesperson in Limpopo Mashudu Malabi-Dzhangi.

The women were arrested last week after videos depicting their alleged crimes surfaced on social media.

The clips showed the women giving the two-year-old boy dagga and alcohol to consume.

“[The mother's] accomplice could be heard in the background persuading the little boy to indulge,” said Mojapelo.

SowetanLIVE's sister publication TimesLIVE has seen three videos depicting the incident.

In the one video, the boy is seen being given an almost empty bottle of alcohol to finish. He is then handed another bottle which has just been opened and is ordered to finish the one before starting the other. The child obliges.

In another video, a woman who believed to be the boy’s mother is seen pulling on a dagga joint while she films herself.

The toddler comes to her and she puts the joint in his mouth. The child looks at the camera, smiling. The woman then pulls him close to her and puffs smoke into his face.

Mojapelo said the child had been immediately removed from her care. He has since been handed over to his grandmother.

© TimesLIVE