Babies for sale in Johannesburg

2010-05-24 09:06

Cape Town - Impoverished women in the Johannesburg city centre are not only renting out their children, but are also selling their babies, a joint Eyewitness News/Carte Blanche investigation has revealed.

According to the report, foreigners - mostly illegal Zimbabweans - rent out their children to beggars for as little as R20 a day.

Doctors also alleged that many of these children were being intentionally drugged and harmed to garner increased sympathy from motorists.

Outrageous

Minister for Women, Children and Persons with Disabilities Noluthando Mayende Sibiya was reported as saying she was outraged by the revelations.

“That is outrageous; it is criminal. You cannot buy a human being and you cannot sell a human being. These are things people should be aware of and anyone found doing such a thing should be locked behind bars,” the minister said.

A Zimbabwean beggar put an Eyewitness News reporter posing as a desperate infertile woman in touch with a 19-year-old woman, who was seven-and-a-half months pregnant and eager to sell her unborn son for R30 000.

Due to legal and ethical implications, Eyewitness News did not hand over the money, but introduced the woman to a social worker from Johannesburg's Displaced Persons Unit, who gave her alternative options.

The women shown on the footage aired on Carte Blanche on Sunday also alleged that a "rent a baby" operation was active at the Central Methodist Church in Johannesburg.

- Watch the Carte Blanche report.

- News24