Lost toddler found alive
'Mother was intoxicated, she was very, very drunk.'
A lost child was reunited with her mother but the good Samaritans who found the child are unsure if giving the child back to the mother was the right thing.
Phumeza Mxatule and her boyfriend Tshepang Mutle found the child after an event at the Mohlakeng Stadium in the early hours of Sunday, 8 May.
“We were on our way back home when we saw the child. A man was talking to her, asking her where her family is. The child is small, she can’t speak but she can walk. We couldn’t leave the child like that and so we asked around to find her parents but couldn’t so we took her home to keep her safe. The idea was for her to sleep in a warm bed and we would look for her parents in the morning,” Mxatule said.
Mxatule said she went to the Police Station but the police told her to keep the child while they contact homes to take the child. It was then found that homes were full. Mxatule proceeded to contact other organisations but to no avail.
A photo of the child was posted on Facebook in a bid to reach the child’s parents and eventually a family friend identified the child.
Mxatule said she, her boyfriend and police officers went to the mother’s alleged home to return the child but did not feel comfortable with what she saw.
“They were all very young and the mother was intoxicated, she was very, very drunk.
The only thing she said to me when we gave the child back was: ‘Sorry and thank you’.
“It didn’t look like she was concerned. She instead said the child was taken by the father,” Mxatule explained.
The good Samaritans are currently in talks with Randfontein Local Municipality’s Social Development department in order to investigate the child’s living situation.
“My main aim is to help the child and in order for the child to be helped, the mother also needs to be helped,” Mxatule said.
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Also read:
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Missing child every five hours in SA
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