A Lost Generation

Having given birth to my son in July 2008 I was shocked and pained to read about “20 babies dumped during the month of August” in September 2008.

This has become a major concern for me, with questions haunting me, asking “why would a mother throw away a child after giving birth to it?”, “did she not feel the labour pains that I felt?”; “how did she expect the baby to survive?”; “why?”; “What are young people saying about this?”; “what is the government doing about it”;” what is society doing about it?” I could not get the answers I needed and started thinking about how I struggled to have a child and how many people would love to give a child a loving and beautiful home but are unable to.

I asked people why they thought women would throw away such blessings. The answers I got varied from HIV/AIDS, to money, to boyfriend / husbands leaving; with none of these really being valid reasons for most people.

However, the trappings of poverty and all its related social ills may at least explain the desperation of many mothers. I also asked a few ladies in my village why they don’t give the children up for adoption? Most of the people I asked either don’t know that it is possible to give up your baby or who to give it to. It became apparent to me that a real possibility is that women who “dump” their kids might really not know of the processes of adoption since of most people especially in rural areas have never heard of the child line. Even then, I severely doubt the capacity and resources of our country’s social welfare and child care services should they have to tend to all these children.

As a member of one of the largest political parties in the country, I have sadly never heard it champion the cause of these babies as it has done with HIV / AIDS, violence against women and poverty. Can we honestly ignore this dire situation and then charge people with child neglect?

I’ve never heard the youth of any political party addressing it or even recognizing it. Dare I even ask, who will speak on behalf of these children? Who will save this lost generation? 

It is imperative that government organise a national campaign to educate women on the options they have if they do not have the means to take care of their children. Government must effectively allocate sufficient resources to child care homes instead of shoving it into their pockets. Legislation on adoption should be revised to afford anyone – South Africans and non-South Africans alike – the ability to adopt children if they are able to provide them with a good home.

Government should also offer free and accessible psychological and psychiatric programmes to assist women who have problems with the fathers of their children. The cause of this again is the fact that most are not employed and therefore rely on their spouses / partners to care for the children  therefore decreasing their self confidence in the process. When all have been educated on the options available we must also amend national legislation to ensure that those who “dump” must be charged with attempted murder (if the child survives) or murder (should the child not survive). With minimum sentences attached to these of 2 and 5 years respectively.

We must hold people to account and take responsibility for such shocking behaviour, or risk yet another lost generation.

Written by Mpho Mehlape, a member of the Congress of the People in Tshwane, Gauteng, in her personal capacity

DISCLAIMER: The views expressed by the author do not necessary reflect the official views and position of COPE.