Baby Savers SA is facing up to the Gauteng Department of Social Development to change the view of baby savers and showcase how they benefit society.
Gauteng, South Africa (30 November 2023) – Baby Savers South Africa has been working hard to help change current legislation, which would aid them in protecting abandoned babies. Recently, they were dealt a blow when a ruling was handed down by the Gauteng Department of Social Development (DSD), calling all Baby Savers, Baby Boxes or any other similar method, “illegal”. While the ruling has been a knock, the team has been ignited, taking a stand and showing local government they are ready to fight for the little lives that deserve to be saved.
Baby abandonment is a heartbreaking act but a reality throughout the world. Often, mothers feeling overwhelmed or scared about their pregnancies will try to dispose of the baby when it finally arrives. This act is illegal, but organisations are working to offer safer anonymous options so babies end up in a safe place rather than dangerously dumped and left to be found.
Abandonment is a crisis in South Africa and one taken very seriously by many organisations. The Baby Savers SA team have worked tirelessly to make sure baby savers are the only option a mother in distress considers when dealing with a baby she feels she cannot keep.
Dr Whitney Rosenberg and Nadene Grabham co-founded Baby Savers SA. Through their organisation, they drafted a law proposal to be presented to parliament to legalise the safe relinquishment of babies through Baby Savers as an alternative to unsafe abandonment. Their goal was to have this law approved and included in the Children’s Act.
Recently, they met with the Gauteng DSD and had very positive talks regarding the savers but then, shortly after the meeting, were notified of the Gauteng DSD’s ruling which differed greatly from the original meeting. The blanket ruling calling for all baby savers in Gauteng to be closed immediately came as a shock for the team. Especially when they learned that organisations working in Child and Youth Care Centres (CYCCs), were being prompted to share their information regarding the baby savers in Gauteng.
Since receiving the ruling, Baby Savers SA have sought legal counsel and a team of brilliant lawyers is offering support to ensure that any organisation operating a baby saver, is protected. Should the DSD wish to pursue any legal action against organisations operating baby savers, Baby Savers SA will be standing beside them to fight for this cause.
Ideally, Baby Savers SA hopes to get the Gauteng DSD back at the table to work through this issue and resolve it in a way that ensures little lives are saved. It is really up to the government now to heed to what the public wishes, at the end of the day, they are only there because the public has asked them to serve. So are they serving you?
What is a Baby Saver?
A Baby Saver is a metal box that has doors on either side. A person who does not want to – or cannot – keep their baby can come to the outer door of the saver at any time, open the door to the saver, place their baby inside and close the door. This door automatically locks to prevent anyone else from removing the baby – and an alarm is triggered. Responders will be alerted immediately and retrieve the baby from the inside within minutes.
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If the saver is not attached to a CYCC the vetted responders will attend and an ambulance is sent immediately to take the baby to the local hospital where the baby is cared for and the Statutory Social Workers of the partnering Child Protection Organisation (CPO) ensure all legal processes are then followed. If the saver is in the wall of a CYCC the baby will be assessed on the premises and then the decision is made as to whether baby needs immediate medical attention, or the in-house / on call doctor sees baby on the premises.
A Form 36 is issued by the Statutory Social Worker or SAPS and Children’s Court proceedings are opened on the first court date (usually a Monday or first working day). This is done by the CPO’s statutory Social Worker.
The baby savers are available and monitored 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Why this matters?
But why is this so important? Because, without this safer option, babies are left in open fields, dumped in bins or drains (like baby Grace who was found by Charmaine Keevy), and left to be found, while trying to survive the elements. Sadly, most abandoned babies do not survive – in fact, only one in every three found is still alive – and those that are never found are obviously also deceased.
It is important to note that Baby Savers SA believes that a baby saver is the last resort. They work closely with pregnancy counselling centres, churches, hospitals, abortion clinics and social workers to get the mother the necessary help before she reaches a state of desperation.
However, in South Africa, help is limited and local government programmes cannot reach every woman in crisis. Many girls and women slip through the cracks and become isolated. These mothers often see no other alternative and end up placing their babies somewhere they hope they will be found.
As for the stats…
Baby Saver SA has kept a record of when Abandonments are reported by the media. This year alone, out of the 84 babies found, 56 of them were found deceased. Only 28 were found alive. These are only the cases that they saw published in the media, and many are never reported. Luke Lamprecht of Women and Men Against Child Abuse mentioned in a recent interview, that around 20 dead babies are received by the mortuary he works with alone, per month!
That is a very hard pill to swallow, even worse is reading the reports of the 56 babies who were found dead.
“This year so far between our 36 Members, with a total of 41 baby savers, there have been 55 babies through their savers and a further 89 through their CPOs and/or SAPS etc. Total abandoned babies just between the handful of organisations under Baby Savers South Africa = 144.
This does not include the babies received by the multitude of other Baby Homes, CYCC’s and Places of Safety across South Africa.”
At the end of the day, there are desperate girls and women who are not getting the support they need. The system is failing them and Baby Savers SA is doing everything they can to deal with the situation of where South Africa finds itself right now. They need the government to come to the table here, and help them help the little ones who need them most. To do that, all they need is to be able to operate as they have for the past decades.
It is not often we find ourselves taking a stance publicly that goes against what the government is doing, but in this case, remaining silent feels wrong. That not continuing to raise awareness could be detrimental. So we say this, if this is a cause that speaks to you, speak out. Speak to your ward councillor, you have their ears now more than ever because next year they need your votes. Reach out to Baby Saver South Africa, and let them know you stand by them. And please sign and share this petition: https://www.change.org/p/president-of-south-africa-legalise-baby-savers-save-children-s-lives
If you would like to find out more, please head to the website or Facebook. You can watch Nadene’s ever-important TEDx talk on the matter here.
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