Abandoned baby girl legal at last
FOUNDLING CAN FINALLY BE ADOPTED Right to a name and a nationality a fundamental human right, say activist lawyers.
An 18-month-old baby girl who was found in the veld soon after her birth has scored a victory for all abandoned babies after the department of home affairs finally relented to legal pressure to issue her with a birth certificate.
Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) took up the baby’s plight after various home affairs offices repeatedly refused a social worker’s request that they issue a birth certificate for the abandoned and vulnerable foundling.
Baby Senelile (not her real name) was found in a field in Pretoria soon after birth. She was placed in care and home affairs’ refusal to document her resulted in her new parents not being able to adopt her.
The baby girl was also in need of emergency healthcare, but her care parents had to pay out of their own pockets as their medical aid fund rejected the claim because the baby was undocumented.
LHR said the department’s refusal to register abandoned babies violated the children’s constitutional right to a name and a nationality from birth.
“If reports from different social workers are correct, the department made a decision not to register foundling abandoned babies and we as a society should be very concerned about these vulnerable children,” the organisation said.
LHR said the fact that they represented several abandoned children in the same position was proof that the department was not doing enough to ensure their offices were informed of the law requiring such children to be registered.
“Not only is the right to a name and a nationality a fundamental human right, it is also the key to further rights such as education and healthcare. This right is not to be taken lightly.”
The Pretoria Children’s Court issued an order last week compelling home affairs to comply with the law. LHR said the registration of Senelile’s birth meant that the couple could now adopt her. –