Police officers raise concern over the neglect of children
MIDRAND – Police will not let parents who neglect their children off the hook...
Ivory Park Police Station has raised concern over the increasing number of abandoned children brought to the station by community members.
According to September reports, six neglected or abandoned children from the age of a few months to six years old were brought to the station and neglected, while three women were arrested for neglecting their children.
Captain Bernard Matimulane said, “Parents are urged to take responsibility for the safety of their little ones or the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit of Ivory Park Police Station will ensure that such parents face the full might of the law.
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“The latest parent who was arrested is a woman from Ivory Park Ext 14 who, last year, left her infant with another woman under the pretext of looking for a job, only to come back 18 months later.”
He revealed that the 29-year-old woman was arrested in the beginning of October and has appeared in Tembisa Magistrates’ Court and charged with child neglect. The child, who was eventually taken in by a member of the community who attended to his needs, is only six years old.
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Department of Social Development spokesperson Jaconia Kobue said, “The total number of child abandonment and neglect cases recorded for 2015/16 is 1616.”
According to Childline South Africa’s Dumisile Nala, “In 2015, our crisis line received 5065 child neglect and abandonment related calls. Some of the calls were made by the children themselves.”
Details: Ivory Park Police Station 011 990 9600.
