WHEN residents of Hospital View in Tembisa, Ekurhuleni, saw a woman dumping what looked like a parcel outside a house, they became suspicious as the owners were away at work.
They unwrapped the blankets and were shocked to find a baby girl of only a few weeks old. They went to hunt for the woman and found her at nearby shacks hours later, then called the police.
Constable Patricia Mgijima said it was the second case of child abandonment the Tembisa cops had handled in a month.
“The other mother and her friends were bust on 28 April for child neglect and they have already appeared in court. They were granted bail pending further investigations,” she said.
Gender-based violence co-ordinator Sergeant Pitsi Makgatho and her assistant Constable Malebo Sefala responded to the call from Hospital View residents. Mgijima said a 27-year-old woman was arrested for child negligence. The child was handed over to the child protection unit.
The mum is due to appear in the Tembisa Magistrates Court on Friday, 13 May.
Residents thanked Sergeant Makgatho for her hard work.
Makgatho parents who treated their children badly didn’t deserve any leniency.
