On Wednesday (23 August) a five-month-old baby will be buried, but Alice van der Walt said his death could have been prevented.
Van der Walt, a recovering drug addict, said she and the baby’s mother, who also has a seven-year-old daughter, both worked in a bar. She alleged that the mothers was on drugs while she was pregnant. Both were then employed by Van der Walt’s mother and a highly concerned Van der Walt insisted that both she and the pregnant mother be tested for drugs on a regular basis. Five months ago the baby was born and the mother started being absent from work when she knew a drug test was coming up, eventually not returning to work at all.
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At time (March) Van der Walt approached Roodepoort Child Welfare (RCW) and expressed her deep concern. “I noticed the baby was always crying. I bought him nappies, milk and other necessities. The four of them lived in one room in a house in Florida and I believe they were using drugs in the presence of the children.
The baby would also shake and only calmed down when I held him tight against me,” said an upset Van der Walt.
But, she was not happy with RCW’s response. “Although I gave them all the information they had all kinds of excuses. They said they did not have transport and rarely phoned back when they said they would. Eventually I was told there were no foster parents available and therefore their hands were tied,” she said.
Last week the baby passed away due to meningitis which, Van der Walt argued, could have been prevented if RWC had acted sooner. “Even if the cause of death is meningitis, receiving treatment in time could have saved his life,” she said. Van der Walt has vowed not to leave it at that.
The Director of RCW, Estelle Odendaal told the Record that they take the case “very seriously” and “that it never should have happened”. She said that though she does not usually deal with cases one-on-one, she herself is investigating the case and is gathering information. “We have started an internal and external investigation,” said Odendaal.
She admitted that the biggest challenge RCW faces is a huge shortage of foster parents in the greater Roodepoort area. Odendaal has indicated that she will give the Record feedback once the investigation has been concluded. “At this stage though it will be premature to speculate about the facts surrounding the incident,” said Odendaal.
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