Cape Town - The death of a 6-month old baby, allegedly at the hands of her older brother, has shocked the tight-knit community of Ceres, which has pleaded with the Department of Social Development to help the desperately poor family.
In a letter, Emmerentia Goliath from the Witzenberg Rural Development Centre (WRDC) said the baby's mother lived in extreme poverty with seven children.
The letter was addressed to Western Cape Social Development MEC Albert Fritz.
The family's only possessions were a freezer, a two-plate stove, and one bed. Their clothing was stored in black plastic bags.
Four children attended school, while their unemployed mother stayed at home to look after the other three.
Recalling what was known so far about Monday, when the baby died, Goliath said the child's mother had gone looking for somebody to help her buy food, leaving her son at home with the baby.
The youth, according to Goliath, had been "restless and rude" after not having slept since Friday. When she went out she left her older son on his makeshift "bed" of blankets on the floor of the shack.
Government to pay for funeral
When she returned she heard people in the street talking loudly and shouting, and when she tried getting closer they tried to stop her from going further.
Her son was lying on the ground, partially covered with a blanket and half naked.
Her baby was also on the ground, dead.
Goliath asked the provincial department of social development to assist the family, who she said lived on rice, samp and tinned fish, and who could not afford a funeral for the infant.
Sihle Ngobese, spokesperson for Fritz, said the department had been assisting the family since Tuesday and was also arranging to pay for the baby's funeral.
"Social services is evaluating the family," he told News24. "Appropriate action will be taken for the children."
Western Cape police spokesperson Constable Noloyiso Rwexana confirmed that a 6-month-old baby had been thrown on the ground and died due to her injuries early on Monday evening.
A man had been arrested and appeared in court on Thursday.
