[imagesource: André Damons]

There has been understandable outrage at the news of a newborn baby found on Plein Street in Cape Town on Wednesday morning.

The unidentified baby was found just after 9AM by a passerby who found it in street, per provincial police spokesperson Sergeant Wesley Twigg.

He also confirmed that a case of concealment of birth has been opened for investigation.

There have been claims that the child was flung from a car window, but that has not been verified.

Image: Supplied to IOL

IOL reported that people on the scene were crying as the police covered the baby’s body, while many others lamented how “cruel” the act of a mother dumping her own child seems:

According to a witness who works in the vicinity, who spoke to IOL on condition of anonymity, she heard people screaming loudly and went to see what was happening.

“At first, you would think it was just some random thing lying in the street, but it was a baby. I am a mother. I have children. Who would do this to an innocent child?”

The Daily Voice reported a source saying that the body of the newborn was “initially found by a homeless person scratching in the bin”:

“It appears the homeless man took the packet out of the bin but did not see the baby and left the packet next to the bin.

A passer-by saw the packet and thought it looked suspicious and opened it and found the baby and that is when the police were called to the scene.

Cape Town Etc reported on people venting their anger and frustration at the situation, using words like “horrific”, “inhumane”, and “cruel”:

“Why not give the baby up for adoption… so many women out there who can’t have their own kids, that wish for that miracle” expressed another Facebook user.

Lucinda Evans, executive director of Philisa Abafazi Bethu (Heal our Women) is questioning what Children’s Commissioner Christina Nomdo will do about this situation.

There is clearly a need for policy to change so as to allow baby savers to become legal in the country:

A baby saver is a unit with an alarm system where one can safely and anonymously relinquish a baby rather than dumping it.

“A baby saver does not encourage abandonment, but rather offers a safe alternative to abandonment and should only be used as a last resort,” Baby Savers SA explains.

While there need to be more laws that prioritise the protection of a child’s life and reduce the rate of abandonment and needless deaths, unwilling mothers also need to know that they have options without causing further trauma.

[sources:iol&capetownetc&dailyvoice]