A newborn baby who was discovered in a plastic bag in Delft has miraculously survived the ordeal.
Police spokesperson Warrant Officer Joseph Swartbooi, says while on patrols on Friday, officers approached the corner of Voorburg and Akkerdraai Roads at around 1.20pm, when community members alerted them to a suspicious parcel.
Upon inspection, they found the newborn baby wrapped inside the bag. Swartbooi says the cops rushed to a nearby medical facility where the baby received treatment.
The Delft Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit are investigating a case of child abandonment.
Taking to social media, founder and chief executive of Western Cape Missing Persons Unit and Delft resident, Candice van der Rheede, highlighted the need for “safety parents” and encouraged suitable persons to become one.
Van der Rheede says: “We work with a lot of abandoned children too. So what happens is normally when we find a lost child, there’s always a problem with finding a safety parent.
“I think the reason why it could be is because people are not aware of the procedure. So I think some people are a bit intimidated by the process and they are a bit discouraged by it.”
Safety parents are vetted individuals over the age of 18, who are considered fit and proper to provide temporary care of no more than six children at at time, except in the cases of siblings.
Van der Rheede says: “Safety parents are just like a temporary home for a child until the child gets adopted or placed into an orphanage.”
Mothers have also been urged to place their children in “baby savers” instead of abandoning them.
In 2017, the founder Philisa Abafazi Bethu SA Lucinda Evans had a Baby Saver fitted into the wall of her home, after a mother had left her baby in a sakkie in front of the door.