There are still caring hearts beating in Joburg

On a bitingly chilly morning, Joburg Metrobus drivers Samuel Phumane and Mashudu Mavhutha saved a baby abandoned by his mother.


It’s winter and the world gets a lot colder and more cruel at this time of the year. So, there was a piece of good news this week to warm even the most icy cynical heart.

On a bitingly chilly morning, Joburg Metrobus drivers Samuel Phumane and Mashudu Mavhutha noticed a woman acting suspiciously and followed her … just in time to see her dump her newborn baby on the street.

They summoned Joburg Metropolitan inspectors Marius Bolsen and Kinsane Maswanganyi, who arrested the 20-year-old mother.

Mavutha and Maswanganyi took care of the infant until he was collected by the Child Protection Service.

A life saved is always a reason to celebrate but in these days of indifferent service from civil servants at all levels of society, it warms one to know there are such caring people working in Joburg.

That must not blind South Africans, though, to the desperation the young mother must have been feeling, how hopeless her life must have seen to cause her to throw away her own child.

There are many of those people in this country. Let’s not forget them and remind ourselves that we all need to look after each other.

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