(Graphic Content) – Foetus found dumped in tipper
Another foetus was discovered inside a tipper dumpster at the Dennesig dumpsite on Wednesday morning.
The sex of the foetus could not be determined according to police, but forensic investigators on the scene estimated it to be at around eight months gestation.
The foetus was found by dumpsite workers doing their morning inspections.
It is unclear when the foetus was dumped at the site since it was already in a state of decomposition.
Paramedics were the first to respond but upon inspection called for the SAPS and pathology services instead.
The discovery follows a string of similar discoveries in July and August last year when no less than five predominantly full term foetuses were discovered in and around Middelburg.
In the last week of July 2016, three foetuses were found dumped in Mhluzi, two of which were full term and the third estimated at eight months gestation missing its right leg.
A fourth was found days later, dumped next to a stream in Nasaret. Community members alerted police about a woman, Breanda Mrenga who was pregnant but mysteriously lost the child.
She was arrested and charged with the concealment of birth.
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Another foetus was next to be discovered, dumped inside a dumpster in John Magagula Street.
These grim discoveries so shortly apart came on the back of another three years earlier, one of which survived and grabbed national attention.
Baby X was discovered in 2014, whimpering next to the railway line where her mother had dumped her wrapped in newspaper, which saved her fragile little life. She was later adopted by a loving Gauteng family.
In 2012, two foetuses were discovered shortly apart, one floating in a bucket in Athlone Dam, where the body was discarded by a man driving a bakkie.
The other foetus was found dumped in a dumpster close to the former Rex Cafe.
The 2016 discoveries spurred Chantel Jacobs, a local resident, to start advocating for the placement of Baby Safes around strategic points in Middelburg where unwanted babies could be placed, triggering an alarm to send immediate help.
Despite her valiant attempts and overwhelming support from the local community, the noble idea never materialised due to a number of serious precautions that had to be in place, like secret locations where the community did not have easy access to the dumped babies.
There were also a great number of legislative pitfalls, like who would be responsible for the infants upon discovery, which could not be ironed out.
