The content on this page is not written by Polity.org.za, but is supplied by third parties. This content does not constitute news reporting by Polity.org.za.

I will today be writing to Minister of Social Development, Bathabile Dlamini, to establish a centrally coordinated database on baby abandonment as a matter of urgency. There is currently no reliable statistics on baby abandonment and therefore no comprehensive strategy to respond to the deeper systemic causes of abandonment.

In the second week of August alone, the following cases were reported on:
A baby boy wrapped in a dress and T-shirt was found abandoned in the veld near Valencia in the Eastern Cape;
A baby was found in a shoe box wrapped in a black disposal plastic bag, near the tar road in Kamvelihle in the Eastern Cape; and
A baby was discovered in a bag in Gonubie in East London with his body upside down and his face and mouth covered with clothes.
The Medical Research Council reports that about 35% of all murdered children were the result of abandonment within the first week after birth. Child Welfare South Africa estimates that more than 2500 babies were abandoned across the country in 2011.

A consolidated database initiated by the Department of Social Development should be accessible to all social welfare structures, such as hospitals, police stations and clinics to provide detailed statistics on baby abandonment. Such a database would need to analyse in which parts of the country abandonments are prevalent and what types of socio-economic circumstances lead to babies being abandoned.

That is the first crucial step in dealing with what is becoming a welfare crisis in South Africa.

The Department of Social Development has no consolidated view of how many babies are abandoned or where they are most likely to be abandoned. Abandoned babies that are fortunate enough to be found alive often get lost in the system with no tracking mechanism in place to ensure that they are well placed and cared for.

We are failing innocent children by not having coherent strategies in place to improve their chances of a better quality of life.