Durban - She was found dumped in bush, wrapped in a refuse bag with her umbilical cord still intact. Now, about a month later, baby Ntwenhle Makhanya, as she has been named by clinic staff, is doing well.
The infant, found in the Mvuzane area in KwaDabeka, near Pinetown, was put in a place of safety after being treated at a local clinic.
Little is known about Ntwenhle (which means “beautiful”). Lieutenant-Colonel Thembeka Mbhele said it appeared the mother had delivered the baby at home before abandoning her child.
Ntwenhle had a tough start to life, but she was found in time. But many of the thousands of babies abandoned every year are not as fortunate.
NGOs were unable to provide figures, but it appeared that the abandoning of babies was a growing problem. Social workers blamed the apparent trend on cultural stigmas, rape and lack of financial support from “deadbeat” fathers.
The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Social Development said women needed to take responsibility by using contraceptives as abandoning babies was morally wrong.
Ruth Stapleton, programme manager at the Peace Agency, an NGO that assists with adoptions and has baby drop-off facilities in Durban North and Pietermaritzburg, said there were no baby dumping statistics available in South Africa.
But based on a 2010 report, it was estimated 3 500 babies and children were abandoned. “It is difficult to say what the escalation has been without formal figures, but there are periods when abandonment escalates,” she said, citing the period from September to the New Year.
Stapleton said national statistics from 2012 showed a decline in adoptions, with only 1 450 children going to new homes. The figure included in-family adoptions.
There were also 200 inter-country adoptions.
“A large percentage of the 1 450 are in-family placements so in effect the figure for unrelated adoptions – the case with most abandoned babies who are adopted – is much less than this,” said Stapleton.
Jackie Branfield, chief executive of the non-profit Bobbi Bear, said it was unfortunate that a lot of baby bodies were being dumped and flushed down toilets. Many women suffered from post-partum depression – a post-pregnancy depression – caused by a range of reasons, like change in appearance, rejection, flak from parents and hostility towards the pregnant woman, she said.
Men’s failure to take responsibility was a major contributory factor in women choosing to kill their children, she said.
“If we can’t value a pregnant young woman, how will she value a child inside her? The way pregnant women are treated is important. If she is rejected by the father, and gets flak at home, a lot of things can trigger in her mind.”
Being HIV-positive, and a lack of counselling and treatment, were also factors.
There was a huge societal problem when a 15-year-old girl was a mother of two from different partners – a deadbeat man in his 40s and a 19-year-old, she said. Branfield said it was obscene that the criminality in such cases was being overlooked.
In dealing with rape victims, Branfield hit out at parents who allowed their daughters’ conscience to be priced by negotiating “damages” to settle the dispute.
Once damages had been paid, the case was dropped.
It was the decay of society that 16-year-old boys were proud to be unsupportive fathers, she said.
Stapleton said abandonment was as a result of “sheer desperation”, adding that “extreme poverty, shame, cultural stigmas, rape and an inability to care for a child are probably the biggest factors”.
“Birth mothers are also not given good support at state hospitals and clinics. If they request assistance in giving their baby up for adoption they are often chastised by staff and sent home without assistance.”
KZN Social Development spokeswoman Ncumisa Fandesi said each baby dumping case was one too many. She hit out at women who abandoned their children, and said they had the responsibility to take control of their reproductive process. The government offered free contraceptives like condoms, pills and implants to prevent pregnancy, she said.
“As a department we do the best possible for a child in our care, but the most ideal place is with their mother and father.”
Fandesi said it was legally and morally wrong to dump children, adding such acts should not be tolerated.
Daily News