Residents take ‘mom’ of dead baby to police

RESIDENTS of Lwandle informal settlement have handed over a woman to police who they believe dumped a 3-month-old infant’s frozen body in a bin.

The gruesome discovery, that has outraged the community, was made by people looking for reusable items in bins on Tuesday.

Ward councillor Jongidumo Maxheke said no one saw who dumped the infant but a community member had identified a young woman on Wednesday as the mother.

“They went to her home and the woman confessed to them before they handed her over to the police. I am proud of our community for showing constraint, because even though they were outraged by what this person did they did not take the law into their own hands,” said Maxheke.

He said the circumstances were not clear, nor why the infant was frozen but it is thought the child was placed in a freezer.

Police spokesperson Noloyiso Rwexana said Lwandle police had opened an inquest after the body of an infant was found in Vulindlela Road.

“Community members did hand over a 26-year-old woman to the police, who was being held for questioning. The person has not yet been proven to be the mother and is only being held for questioning at this time. Community members were checking for old stuff in bins when they found a black plastic bag and the infant frozen inside,” she said.

Rwexana said no arrest has been made and that the investigation is ongoing.

Community Chest Monitoring and Evaluation Services’ Joan Daries said that the infant had brought the province’s child murder number to 68 for the year.

“These are only the victims of unnatural and violent death, which we confirm through the morgues, police and media reports. South Africa’s mortality rate for children is twice the international rate. Consider that children who die from malnutrition or neglect are not added to these statistics,” said Daries.

There has been a collective effort from civic organisations and NGOs to address the crisis, said Daries, but everyone needs to come on board to address the historic and systemic issues within society.

Provincial Social Development spokesperson Sihle Ngobese condemned the act.

“This is not just something found in our poorer communities and there has not been a spike observed in child dumping but (it has been) linked to a range of issues including financial and emotional distress,” he said.

Ngobese said their services were readily available through their 36 local offices and 6 regional offices, and that residents should report any abandoned, abused, neglected or missing children to the police or to the social development department hotline on 0800 220 250.

Anyone with more information who can assist with the investigation, please call Lwandle Police on 021 845 2060 or 082 522 1208.

Circumstances were not clear, nor why the infant was frozen