It remains illegal to abandon a baby as there are no safe haven laws in South Africa

While August is celebrated as Women’s Month across South Africa, one sector of society faces a devastating reality during this month. Crisis pregnancies which began during the festive season draw to an end, and baby abandonment seems to some mothers to be the only option available to them.

Executive founder of Hotel Hope in Melville Oliver Quambusch told Northcliff Melville Times of the untold pain and heartache for mothers who feel unable to keep their babies, for a variety of reasons.

“Poverty is the number one reason for mothers to abandon children whether in parks, on park benches or public restrooms,” says Quambusch.

So far this year alone, 33 abandoned babies have been found dead and 14 alive, according to Nadene Grabham, operations director for Door of Hope Children’s Mission, who tracks this issue through media reports. Since 2020, 205 babies have been found dead and 128 alive.

Grabham says, “This is always a busy time of the year for us as pregnancies from the end of 2022 and beginning of 2023 reach full term and mothers give birth.”

Hotel Hope recently opened their fifth home for abandoned or orphaned children to accommodate the ever-increasing number of children needing care. According to Quambusch, vulnerable women are not solely to blame for this crisis. “Men get vulnerable women pregnant. On this, I am a little harsher as the men do not take responsibility for their child, even if it is just with money.”

He describes one woman as refusing to go to court for maintenance because she says the father will kill the baby rather than be tied to it for years and be expected to pay.

“Another baby in our care was brought to a police station by its mother who asked where she can safely hand her baby over. We salute her and others who ask for help to safely give their babies up for adoption. Five of the children we look after were found in the streets; it is devastating. One newborn was brought to us after her mother gave birth in the hospital but falsified contact details – she gave birth and quietly walked out of the hospital as soon as she could.”

One solution that has been suggested to help women who wish to relinquish their babies safely, is for baby-saver boxes to become more readily available. These boxes, while not a legal option for mothers, do provide women with the facility to safely and anonymously give up their babies.

Northcliff Melville Times reported previously on the mother of ‘Baby Masana’ who tried to safely abandon her baby in Roosevelt Park last year. She placed her hours-old baby wrapped up in a jacket on the pavement where she knew there was a lot of foot traffic. When a passerby arrived, she pretended to have discovered the baby girl and made sure help was called.

The mother is now awaiting trial after she handed herself in to the Sophiatown police just a couple of days later. She, like so many others, did not know baby-saver boxes existed.

“It is imperative that baby-saver boxes become a legally protected way for mothers in crisis to be able to safely relinquish their babies,” says Quambusch.

Baby Savers SA advocates for the legalisation of safe baby relinquishment options for mothers known as Baby-Saver boxes.Grabham says, “It remains illegal to abandon a baby as there are no safe haven laws in South Africa. Even if a mom leaves her baby somewhere safe, it is still against the law, and we need to keep fighting to change this.”

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