The Department of Social Development in Gauteng is at loggerheads with non-profit organisations working to prevent unsafe baby abandonment. The department has branded “baby savers” illegal and is threatening to close down and remove children from organisations that have baby savers.
Baby savers or boxes are specially designed structures – usually built into the outside wall of an organisation – that trigger an alarm once a baby has been placed inside, allowing for the infant to be retrieved and taken to a place of safety. The baby savers are meant to be alternatives to the widely reported unsafe abandonment of babies in rivers, dumping sites, or even drains.
Baby Savers South Africa (BSSA), a coalition of NGOs working in this space, argues that these baby savers are a lifeline for desperate moms and their babies.
Child abandonment is against the law in South Africa, but these organisations have been operating unimpeded for decades. That was until 2023 when the Department of Social Development in Gauteng issued a directive ordering Child and Youth Care Centres (CYCCs) and child protection NGOs to immediately stop operating baby savers.
At the time the department argued that baby savers encourage women to abandon their children rather than relinquishing them through the child protection system. The department said CYCCs cannot accept abandoned children; these matters must go to the children’s court first.
Up to the courts to decide
In response, Baby Savers South Africa has taken the department to court. “Baby Savers SA and its members are hoping that safe relinquishment through a baby saver is legally recognised as a safe alternative to unsafe baby abandonment. It is a lifesaving device, a safe alternative to unsafe baby abandonment,” Nadene Grabham, co-founder and operations director at BSSA tells Health-e News.
The coalition wants the courts to declare sections of the Children’s Act inconsistent with the constitution and invalid because it doesn’t provide for the safe relinquishment of infants.
“The Department of Social Development claims that section 150 of the Children’s Act is enough to protect these children. The section says that children in need of care should be referred to social services – but our social services are already overwhelmed and under-resourced. Using a baby-saver device is a desperate plea for help from a parent who can’t care for their child. Removing these devices would only take away the last layer of protection for vulnerable babies, punishing children for their parents’ hardships,” argues Grace Brain from Embrace, a mothers’ support and advocacy organisation.
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“South Africa’s Constitution guarantees some rights unconditionally, like the right to life. Baby saver devices save lives – the lives of babies who might not survive otherwise. Keeping baby saver devices available will save at least some children and, without an alternative solution, getting rid of the devices is simply not an option,” she says.
Brain says baby-saver devices are the perfect answer, they exist because our society does not adequately support parents and caregivers.
“We need better systems – more wrap-around support, non-judgmental healthcare, and government services that help parents in difficult socioeconomic circumstances – before parents reach crisis points.”
There aren’t any official figures of how many children have been received through baby savers. The following statistics are from the BSSA:
Causes of abandonment
“The main causes are baby abandonment is due to GBV, poverty, rape, failed illegal adoptions and lack of help and support from the fathers, family and even from some government departments like social workers, nurses and in some cases the police,” says Grabham.
“Recognising baby savers as a safe alternative to unsafe baby abandonment will reduce the number of unsafe abandonments and therefore reduce the number of babies dying because of unsafe abandonment.”
The department has refused to comment on this story saying it “will allow the court process to unfold”. – Health-e News
