ANC asks moms not to dump babies
2010-07-21 21:54
Johannesburg - The ANC in Gauteng implored new mothers who did not want their babies to stop the "horrendous" practice of dumping them in the veld, dustbins and pit latrines, in response to a picture in The Times on Wednesday of a dead baby found in Soweto.
"We want to build a caring society, it cannot be correct that the future generations are dumped like garbage. We equally do not understand why people rush to dump babies when they can take those babies to orphanages for adoption," said provincial spokesperson Dumisa Ntuli in a statement.
They understood that women faced difficult situations, but there were alternatives like legal abortions, prevention, family planning, and use of condoms, as well as seeking advice from hospital social workers.
"Therefore it cannot be compassionate that innocent babies are (arbitrarily) dumped in bushes, toilets, pit latrines, rivers. We must end the tragedy of infant abandonment and give affection and support to babies."
They asked the department of health to help trace the mothers who would have registered at hospitals, and for the police to find the mother of this particular baby swiftly.
Meanwhile, Media Monitoring Africa said the newspaper should have established the facts surrounding the death of the baby before publishing the picture with comment.
"MMA believes the serious issue of child abandonment needs to be addressed by the public and by policy makers. While the publication of this image has succeeded in igniting a debate on this topic, it published the image before the full circumstances of the case had been established," a statement read.
Shock factor
The baby was reportedly found still with her umbilical cord and mother's placenta, and had been burned. The Times editor Phylicia Oppelt said they deliberated carefully about publishing the picture, by photographer Halden Krog, but decided to go ahead to honour her life "to shout out that she did not deserve to be dumped like a piece of litter".
The MMA quoted Dr Harry Moutrie, director of Enhancing Children's HIV Outcomes, as saying the newspaper should have waited for an autopsy to establish whether the infant died as a result of a termination, was stillborn, died of exposure or was killed.
MMA supported The Times's contention that the publication could only be made in extraordinary circumstances, but it could have had the same effect on page three.
The newspaper had also opted for the "shock factor" and ignored the emotional distress that the image may have caused to children or adults who have experienced infant-related trauma.
According to a report inside the newspaper, the baby girl was found by a scavenger and residents interviewed said such finds were not uncommon.
An article on the baby had elicited over 100 comments on the newspaper's website shortly before 13:00.
Comments ranged from accusations that the publication was trying to sell advertising, was being insensitive, was racist, and contributed to the infant's dehumanisation.
They compared it to the press's reluctance to print pictures of Princess Diana when she died, and asked why the remains of three white people who burnt to death in Johannesburg earlier this week were not also published.
One wrote that situations such as these were caused by girls who "irresponsibly hump away but can't handle the consequences".
Others congratulated The Times for running the picture, saying it was a "horrible tragedy" and another asking that the readers imagine the "sheer desperation of the mother" who did that.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Limpopo police reported that a 25-year-old woman was arrested on a charge of murder after the newborn baby she allegedly threw into a bin died.
The woman gave birth on Tuesday and allegedly left the child in the rubbish bin in Lebowakgomo.
- SAPA