Foetal alcohol syndrome’s sad legacy
BABY Thomas never had a chance. Born on a farm near Wellington, his mother Rose was a grape harvester who was paid in bottles of wine per kilogram of grapes she picked. She was raped by another worker and for a few months didn’t realise she was pregnant.
Not that it would have made any difference. Rose was a fullblown alcoholic: a product of the Western Cape farming community’s infamous “dop” system. Thomas was born with spectral full-blown foetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) and is mentally retarded, unable even to attend a special school for children with learning disabilities. As of 1987, foetal alcohol exposure was recognised as the leading known cause of intellectual disability in the Western world, with the Western Cape and Northern Cape having the highest prevalence globally.
According to the World Health Organisation ( WHO), Upington, De Aar and Wellington were singled out as the most affected towns worldwide. “These are areas… where 120 out of every 1 000 people are sufferers.
“Children afflicted by FAS are usually underweight and of short stature. They are characterised by microcephaly (a small head circumference) and a range of facial and other physical abnormalities, including small and wide-set eyes, pronounced folds of skin around the eyes, low nasal bridges, medical clefts and thin upper lips. Kidney and heart defects may also be present. Children also exhibit mild to moderate mental retardation and behavioural problems.”
The WHO has revealed that FAS is the leading cause of mental retardation in South Africa. Denis Viljoen, a founder of the NGO the Foundation for Alcohol Related Research (FARR), states: “Foetal alcohol spectrum
Foetal alcohol disorder is the most common birth defect in SA
disorder is the most common birth defect in South Africa.”
FARR reported an increase in the prevalence of FAS in school-aged children in the Wellington area. Between 1997 and 2001 the FAS rate increased from 4.8 to 8.8 percent. Worldwide the FAS rate is estimated to be 0.97 births out of 1 000 (0.0097 percent).
In the 1920s, the dop system was outlawed, but continued to be widely practised until 1994. It still continues in a few isolated pockets. It is responsible for the entrenched pattern of binge drinking common to working class areas in the Western Cape.
A source from Wellington (who does not want to be named) said being paid wages partly in cash and the rest in wine is still common practice on many farms.
According to FAS researcher Eric Graham, women constitute about 30 percent of the labour force and are two to three times more likely than men to be employed as casual labourers. More than two thirds of farm worker families earn an income of less than R800 per month.
And, most disturbing is a new trend, apparently manifesting in the Eastern Cape, which involves pregnant teenage girls drinking heavily so their babies can be born with FAS, enabling them to qualify for a R1 200 disability grant rather than the R280 child grant.