Foetus found floating in north sewer pipe
The lifeless body was found when an unknown caller reported to the Gauteng Emergency Service that a foetus was floating in the sewer lines in the north of Pretoria.
Police are investigating a case of concealment of death after a foetus was found on the roadside, near a sewer line.
The lifeless body was found over the weekend on August 19.
Gauteng Emergency Services spokesperson Annikie Lelaka said the lifeless body was found in Ga-Rankuwa View at 15:56.
Lelaka said a call was logged by a community member on a foetus floating in the sewer pipe.
“The caller didn’t leave a name and the foetus was declared dead on the scene.”
Police spokesperson Warrant Officer Johan van Dyk said, “A case of concealment of death has been opened with no arrests so far.”
Earlier in the year, NGO New BeginningZ urged pregnant women to rather give their babies up in a safer process, to end unsafe infant abandonment.
New BeginningZ focuses on orphans and vulnerable children with one of its main focus points being abandoned and abused babies and toddlers.
Spokesperson Tahiyya Hassim said the public and desperate mums needed to be educated on such processes.
She revealed that it was not only mothers that struggled with keeping the baby but both parents.
“Sometimes they come and say they love this baby but for certain reasons, they are unable to keep it.”
She said it was important that the NGO informs prospective parents that there are people who are willing to assist with counselling and other services.
Hassim said they have realised that many desperate mothers tried to speak to social workers and hospital staff, but faced a huge amount of judgement and contempt when they tried to get this much-needed help and guidance.
“A negative connotation to adoption is causing so many little innocent babies to die alone and unwanted out in the cold on the streets and in dustbins.”
She said mothers cannot make informed decisions without the necessary education and information.
“Most mothers often decide to keep their babies after getting proper legal advice, necessary psycho-social and emotional support.”
One of the services offered by the NGO is a “baby wall” where desperate mothers, as an absolute last resort, can leave their unwanted babies safely and anonymously.
Two of these are in Sunnyside.
“We also provide counselling services to mothers in crisis pregnancies and, where possible, try to guide them but also educate them on the different options available to them, their families and their baby,” Hassim said.
She said the NGO recently launched BabySavers South Africa, through which the necessary care is given to mums and their babies.
She said the organisation is a national coalition to end unsafe infant abandonment.
“We are giving desperate mothers the option of safe infant relinquishment,” she said.
Police arrest four for possession of concealed weapons, drugs in Sunnyside
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