(Photo by Bongiwe Gumede/Foto24/Gallo Images/Getty images)
- Mpumalanga’s top cop has expressed concern over a number of incidents of parents abandoning their children in the province.
- Police recorded several incidents of a similar nature during the months of May, June and July.
- They are calling on anyone with information to come forward.
Mpumalanga police commissioner Lieutenant General Mondli Zuma has expressed concerns over “immoral acts” of parents against their newborn children.
This comes after three incidents of this nature were reported at Vosman on Wednesday, 29 July.
“A foetus was discovered next to a sewage site and on 21 July 2020, a newborn baby boy was left abandoned outside a certain house, meanwhile in June, a baby girl was left abandoned outside a couple’s house,” police spokesperson Brigadier Leonard Hlathi said in a statement on Sunday.
“Similar incidents were also reported at Siyabuswa and Amersfoort respectively. As a result of these heartless acts, General Zuma is calling the community to desist from dumping their babies or committing illegal abortions,” he said.
In addition, police are currently investigating a case of concealment of birth regarding the foetus which was discovered at Vosman.
“It all unfolded when police were notified about a suspicious parcel next to a sewage area. They then responded and discovered the said parcel as reported, was later confirmed to be a foetus,” Hlathi said.
On 21 June in Vosman, a 36-year-old man discovered a newborn baby boy wrapped with blankets outside his house as he was about to leave for work, and notified police.
Police arrived to find the baby with a note stating, “please take care of him”.
On 1 June, a 47-year-old-woman from Vosman was woken up by the noise of an baby crying, prompting her to wake her husband. This led to a discovery of an infant wrapped in a towel and placed at the door.
“They tried to look around to see if they could possibly spot the person who left the baby, but with no success and further enquired from the neighbours as well, but no positive feedback.
“The matter was eventually reported to the police and a case of child neglect was opened. In both incidents, the infants have been taken to a place of safety while police are investigating,” Hlathi said.
A similar incident was reported on 13 May in Siyabuswa near Kwamhlanga, where a foetus was discovered in a dumping site by two employees responsible for waste management.
A foetus was also discovered at a dumping site in Amersfoort on 21 May 2020.
Lieutenant General Mondli Zuma said:
These incidents are strongly condemned in the strongest terms because parents are supposed to be protectors of their children.
Police are calling on anyone with information regarding the abandonment of children to come forward.
“All information will be treated with the strictest of confidence and callers may remain anonymous,” Hlathi said.
