Watch: 3 arrested for urging toddler to smoke, child rescued in Johannesburg
Community activists went on a night-long rescue mission to save a three-year-old boy who was filmed smoking.
A video showing a three-year-old boy being encouraged by adults to smoke from a makeshift pipe has sparked national outrage and led to the arrest of the child’s mother and two men.
The Witness reports that the harrowing footage, which shows the child being coached to inhale what appeared to be drugs, triggered a night-long rescue mission by community activists and police last night.
By this morning, police confirmed that the boy’s mother and two men, aged between 28 and 36, had been arrested and would be charged with child abuse under domestic violence laws.
They are expected to appear in the Johannesburg Regional Court tomorrow.
Anti-drug activist Curt van Heerden, founder of the Institution of Grace, led the urgent response after receiving the video clip.
“What makes it worse and even more heartbreaking is that they actually coach him how to smoke,” says Van Heerden.
He and fellow activists tracked down the child’s location to a block of flats in Johannesburg, where they questioned residents to identify the adults seen in the footage.
With help from the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD), the child’s mother was located and taken to Sophiatown Police Station.
By midnight, the child’s father had also joined Van Heerden at the police station, but no medical assistance had yet been provided.
“At 02:15, I drove the child and his grandmother to a hospital in the Johannesburg CBD. By 03:00, he was finally receiving medical care,” says Van Heerden.
The boy is now in the custody of social services.
“It rips my heart. He didn’t want to let go. He just kept on holding me,” Van Heerden says, describing the emotional moment he left the child at the hospital.
The child’s grandmother, visibly distraught, added: “It is very hard for a gran to let a child go.”
Van Heerden says his team will continue to support the family as they navigate the emotional and legal aftermath.
Police said investigations are continuing.
🚨 SHOCKING VIDEO: This viral video has emerged where a Newclare, Johannesburg, mother is seen making her child light and smoke a pipe. Community activists rushed to find the child and ensure his safety. It’s believed the mother and others in the video have now been arrested.… pic.twitter.com/BUy9RF4QRu
— Nabeelah Shaikh (@Nabeelah_Shaikh) July 30, 2025
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Read original story on witness.co.za
