BABY DIED AMID PROTEST CHAOS

A MONTH-OLD baby’s life was cut short following a chaotic protest that broke out in Happy Valley on Monday. 

The protest, which saw four people arrested, prevented the newborn’s parents from taking her to a hospital.

Mother Jasmine Joseph, 37, said that she woke up after 5am on Monday, but little MayLynn was unresponsive and did not want to feed.

Joseph told the Daily Voice that after realising that they would not be able to get the ambulance to her home in Happy Valley due to the protest, she and MayLynn’s daddy, Manuel, decided to walk to the police station.

“We were held hostage, no one was allowed to come and no one was allowed to go out,” Joseph explained. 

“I felt like I was failed by this protest that turned chaotic and also by police officials. 

“When I got to the police station around 6:30am and had they made a van able to take us to Eerste River hospital we would not have been in this situation.

“My bors is so seer, ek kon nie eers my arms oplig nie want my kind was veronderstel is om my melk to drink, but due to ‘third parties’ she is no longer with us.”

The mom further explained that while they waited in the trauma room at Mfuleni police station a fog of teargas was in the air and at that moment it seemed as if her daughter was not going to make it.

“Dit was soos jy kan die dood in die kind se oë sien, en jy as ‘n ouer moet deur daai dinge gaan, but the teargas was not in the air when we arrived,” she explained. 

A police official later assisted them and took them to a medical facility, however after attempts to resuscitate her little flower after 20 minutes she sadly passed away.

The mother felt that, had someone assisted her and her baby, things could have turned out differently. She is now doubting herself, thinking that maybe she failed her little flower.

Joseph added that when she held MayLynn in her arms after her passing she was still warm. MayLynn’s older nine-year-old brother still looks for his sister as he cannot understand what happened. But Joseph tells him: “She’s sleeping in Jesus’ arms.”

Police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Malcolm Pojie said of the incident: “Information suggests that the mother and child were assisted by members who took them to the Eerste River day hospital for treatment between 6 and 7am after the mother approached them with her child who fell sick during the night.  

“Emergency personnel could not access the area due to the risk of the protest, hence they intervened and provided the required assistance, long before the unruly crowd dispersed after 9am.”

Ward Councillor Kariena Mare said she has been in contact with Jasmine and Manuel during this difficult time.

“Apparently she was sick when the baby woke up in the morning, but due to the strike they could not get an ambulance in,” said Mare. 

“It is very sad that people can cause the passing of a baby because of actions that could have been prevented if people listened.”