Child Abuse Latest: Boy locked up for days with dogs, no food, water

KwaZulu-Natal Social Development MEC, Nonhlanhla Khoza, has vowed to intensify efforts to protect children from neglect and the often hidden abuse that they suffer daily. 

Khoza was reacting to an incident of child neglect after a seven-year-old boy from Umlazi Township’s, D Section, south of Durban, was found by neighbours locked for days in a four-roomed house with dogs and no food, water or electricity. 

The special needs boy, who lives with his father, was spotted by members of the public standing inside the house, which was secured with burglar guards and remained locked daily.  It is believed that the boy’s grandmother him in the care of his father. The father allegedly left the boy locked in the house, more than a month ago. 

“We have been taken aback by the conditions the child was left in. We are more surprised and shocked than anything, because we never thought a parent could do such a thing to his own child. The child has been left in such a despicable condition. No child deserves to be treated like this and there is no explanation that can be accepted from the parents of this poor child,” Khoza said.

Khoza said she would be pushing for law enforcement agencies to have no mercy on individuals involved in any form of child abuse. 

“There should be no negotiations with abusers. As the Department of Social Development, we are leaving no stone unturned in dealing with such cases in our society. A number of children are brought up in unsafe homes. We encourage parents to make use of government help if they find themselves unable to take care of children,” Khoza said. 

Khoza said a team of social workers had been dispatched to providing psychosocial support to the boy. The child has since been removed from the  house and taken to a place of safe. 

“It will not be enough to rescue the child from that condition. We also have to ensure that both parents  face justice for child abuse and neglect,” she said.