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Thousands of SA kids abandoned
03/07/2007 09:39 - (SA)
Johannesburg - Twice as many children were abandoned in the past year as in the year before, the Johannesburg Child Welfare centre said.
Thousands of children a year are being abandoned, with the number reaching at least 1 200 in three provinces alone, the Sowetan newspaper reported on Tuesday.
More than 40 children are being dumped in the Free State every month, the worst record in the country.
Mondli Mvambi, spokesperson for the social development department, said 477 children were reported abandoned in the past 12 months.
KwaZulu-Natal is reporting all-time high figures, especially of newborn babies, but only sporadic cases are reported in Limpopo.
Linda Naidoo, spokesperson for Childline, said more children were being abandoned in KwaZulu-Natal, mainly because of poverty.
"KwaZulu-Natal is one of the poorest provinces in the country and that's why we have so many such cases. HIV-Aids is another cause because many mothers find themselves unable to cope with the demands of raising an HIV-positive baby," she said.
Khosi Msibi of the Johannesburg Child Welfare centre said the organisation deals with 32 cases a month, an increase from last year's eight.
"We get referrals from the police, hospitals and community members. Chris Hani-Baragwanath and Johannesburg hospitals also refer a lot of cases to us," she said.
Katimka Pieterse, a social worker at ASM Abba Adoptions in Pretoria, blamed social problem such as unemployment for the alarming rate at which children were being abandoned.
Pieterse said most children were abandoned at hospitals and by illegal immigrant mothers, often because of rape or HIV.
"Mothers are ashamed to come out and say 'I was raped, now I have a child'. And the only option they have is to abandon the child," she said.
She said mothers could take unwanted children to the police or leave them with a nurse at a hospital.
- SAPA
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