Over 500 arrested

Image via: Shutterstock

Newborn baby rescued from garbage bag in KZN, mother arrested

The baby was examined and appears to be in good health.

Over 500 arrested

Image via: Shutterstock

Reaction Unit SA shared the shocking news on their Facebook page, explaining that their Paramedics and Reaction officers were at the scene where the baby was found in a refuse bag. They explained:

“The child was saved minutes before a Durban Solid Waste bin truck picked up the waste from Olivine Road in Everest Heights, Verulam.”

The baby was rescued at 14:29 when Reaction Unit SA was alerted by a member of the public who heard crying from the bin. A spokesperson for the reaction team, Prem Balram, told Phoenix Sun that the baby was wrapped in a denim dress.

The umbilical cord and placenta were still attached to the child. He was examined on site and found to be in good health but was transported to the hospital for further evaluation.

Reaction Unit SA also tracked down and arrested the mother. The 31-year-old woman is detained at the Phoenix Police Station.

The case is developing, and we will share updates as new information becomes available. The video of the rescue can be viewed here. Please note that it may upset sensitive viewers.

Abandoning babies and children on the increase

Research done during 2016 showed that an estimated 3,000 babies were ‘safely abandoned’ at baby homes, but this figure does not include babies dumped in the trash and on rubbish heaps.

Dee Blackie from the anthropology department at Wits told The Citizen that she had been researching this since 2010. While the figures were consistent, it spiked in recent years. She explained:

“In 2010 we estimated 2,500 just from child welfare offices in Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Durban and their regional offices had been abandoned. In Gauteng, for every child we find alive, two die.”

Six years later, that number had grown to 3,000. The Stats SA report also highlighted some of the reasons why mothers abandon their babies, including pregnancies resulting from rape:

“Using the 2016/17 South African Police Service statistics, in which 80% of the reported sexual offences were rape, together with Statistics South Africa’s estimate that 68.5% of sexual offences victims were women, we obtain a crude estimate of the number of women raped per 100,000 as 138. This figure is among the highest in the world.”

Dee Blackie noted that “terrified, destitute and desperate, many women saw abandonment as their only option,” specifically after they turned to backstreet abortionists who only scam them out of their money.

Where to find help

Mothers in need of assistance can contact New Beginningz in Laudium on 012 384 2189. They are situated at 558 Bengal Street. Door Of Hope Baby Boxes are situated at 48 Hillbrow Street and 17 Doris Street in Berea, Johannesburg.

Door of Hope plans to expand to Cape Town and other parts of the country. Their emergency contact number is 082 783 3374. In their 19 years of service, 1,638 babies have been helped, 683 adoptions were facilitated, and they currently have 75 babies in their care.