Infant survives ordeal in pit

PIENAAR – It is believed that a child is a gift from God, but in recent events it seemed more as if most young mothers rather regarded motherhood as a curse.

This was attributed to the increasing incidents of young mothers killing their own babies, or abandoning them in the bush.

Mpumalanga News noted that incidents such as these started to make headlines last year during the festive season.

Not so long ago community members of Elukwatini were left shocked after a young mother murdered her baby and hid the body.

This newspaper learnt that local police were working tirelessly to find a woman by the name of Precious Sibande who tried to kill her own baby in a pit toilet.

Information received by this publication, indicated that the child, who was still alive, was discovered in a black plastic bag in a pit toilet after one of the neighbours heard a baby crying and went to investigate.

The spokesperson for the police, Lt Jabu Ndubane, confirmed the incident.
”It’s true that we are working hard to get hold of a young mother who tried to kill her baby. We thank God that the baby was alive and healthy.
Police managed to identify the culprit after we opened the plastic bag and found the baby with its clinic card. Information indicated that the mother hails from Schoemansdal, but gave birth at a clinic in Kaapmuiden”.

Ndubane urged community members who have information which could lead to an arrest, to contact police during office hours on 013-794-9300/9385 as Sibande had already been charged with attempted murder.

Throughout the festive season this publication covered numerous shocking stories of young mothers who killed and dumped their babies.

The first incident which left many in shock, was in which two infants were discovered in the bush at KaBokweni. A young mother estimated to be in her early 20s killed her baby at Msholozi section.

Meanwhile, the Moral Regeneration Movement also raised serious concerns regarding these incidents which seemed to have become part of the norm.

During an interview with provincial chairperson Rev Mika Nthali, he said such incidents showed that people no longer had morals.

“The word of God said thou shall not kill. What our children are doing these days is very disturbing because a child is a gift from God. If those young girls believe that the baby was a mistake, they must drop them at an orphanage instead of killing the innocent souls. There are many families who want children, we all deserve to live as we are made in the image of God. We don’t know what leads to them dumping or abandoning their babies, but killing them is not a good thing because those children can be our future leaders or grow up and become doctors and help the nation.”