KEY POINTS
- Advocates urge legal protection for parents in child abandonment cases.
- Safe haven laws could provide an alternative to unsafe abandonment.
- The current law criminalizes all forms of child abandonment.
A growing number of advocates in South Africa are calling for legal reforms to protect parents who abandon their children due to extreme hardship.
The National Adoption Coalition of South Africa (NACSA) has urged the Constitutional Court to reconsider laws that criminalize parents who abandon their children. It argues that the current legal framework provides no viable alternatives for struggling families.
Dr. Dee Blackie, a researcher and advocate for child welfare, highlighted the severity of the crisis. “In 2010 alone, 3,500 children were abandoned in South Africa,” she said.
“These numbers only account for children within the welfare system, excluding many others left in dangerous circumstances.”
According to Blackie, Johannesburg Child Welfare receives five to six abandoned children every week.
Yet, the government does not keep official statistics on child abandonment, which she says makes it difficult to address the issue effectively.
Advocates propose safe haven laws to protect children
Child welfare advocates propose introducing a safe haven law. This law would allow desperate parents to relinquish their children safely without facing criminal prosecution.
However, Blackie has been campaigning for an amendment to the Children’s Act to establish legal baby safes and other protective measures.
“Criminalizing desperate mothers does not solve the problem,” she said. “It forces them to leave children in unsafe places instead of seeking a secure alternative.”
Baby Savers SA (BSSA) advocates for legal baby savers. The organization has been lobbying the Department of Social Development for years.
Moreover, BSSA’s Nadene Grabham emphasized that legal recognition of baby savers could save lives.
“This is about giving babies a chance at life and ensuring that no mother feels forced to abandon her child in a life-threatening environment,” Grabham said.
Current laws criminalize all forms of child abandonment
Under South African law, all forms of child abandonment are illegal. Charging a parent with the criminal offense of concealment of birth can occur if they leave a child without identification or contact details.
According to IOL, advocates argue that this law fails to consider the desperate circumstances of many parents.
“We are not saying illegal abandonment should go unpunished,” Blackie clarified. “But safe relinquishment should be allowed as a legal alternative.”
The Department of Social Development tracks child abandonment cases through the National Child Protection Register. It also conducts awareness campaigns on reproductive health and family planning.
However, activists maintain that actual solutions for struggling parents together with protection for vulnerable children require changes in current policies.
Child welfare organizations wait for the Constitutional Court to take action toward updating old laws that protect children, but also resolve abandonment sources.
