Red tape stops centre helping babies

AS Child Protection Week officially kicked off this week, there were still a number of children being left abandoned on the streets of Johannesburg.

A 1-year-old boy was abandoned outside the Resthaven New Life Centre, an NGO in Rosettenville, last Friday.

A staff member found the infant lying on the pavement at around 6am.

The centre was forced to hand over the baby, due to its inability to house babies as it doesn’t have certification and documentation from the Department of Social Development allowing its workers to care for the child.

The centre has a baby sanctuary, however, but in spite of the need for it, it is not able to operate because of certain legal requirements.

The centre has been battling to get registration for more than a year.

Steve Rudd, the spokesperson for Resthaven Ministries, said they have the capacity to provide for at least 25 babies. However, they need certification from the Department of Social Services.

“At around 6am, one of the staff found a baby had been abandoned in front of the New Life centre.

“We immediately brought the child into the centre, but we had no capacity to keep the baby so we called the police,” Rudd said.

“Because we are unable to keep the baby, we called other organisations around the area to find out if they would please assist to house the baby.

“Luckily, Childline was of great help.

“Our centre has the capacity to take care of abandoned babies, we have been approved by the Health Department and the Fire Department, but the Social Services Department is delaying processes to get the centre approved to house abandoned babies.

“Honestly, I don’t know what the hold-up is. We have been waiting for their certification for a long time – over a year,” said Rudd.

Moffat View SAPS spokesperson Constable Phumi Kraai confirmed that no docket or case had been opened at the police station.

According to Rudd, the child was at a place of safety in South Hills.

He said this was not the first time a child had been left at the doorstep of their shelter.

The Department of Social Development was unable to respond to enquiries regarding the centre’s certification at the time of publication.