The Eastern Cape Department of Social Development has issued a stark warning over a distressing rise in infant abandonment and child abuse cases across the province, describing the situation as a “major concern.”
Department spokesperson Mpumzi Zuzile, appearing in a televised interview, revealed that since March 2024 alone, nearly 40 infants have been abandoned. The most recent case involved a week-old baby girl discovered in a plastic bag near a bridge in Mdantsane, East London.
Zuzile outlined a broader crisis of child welfare, citing a recent local newspaper report about an 8-year-old child left in front of a home. He confirmed that, between April and September of the last financial year, the department had to place more than 44,000 children into foster care due to families being unable to care for them.
“These are frightening cases where parents are abandoning their children,” Zuzile stated. He emphasized that the department is actively running family preservation and parenting programs, having engaged with over 33,000 families between April and September to educate them on alternatives, including formal foster care and adoption processes.
Despite these outreach efforts, the statistics remain alarming. Zuzile disclosed that over the recent December and January period, 46 cases of child abuse and neglect were reported to the department. Hundreds more cases related to sexual and physical abuse of minors are currently under police investigation.
When pressed on whether the province faces a crisis, Zuzile stopped short of using the term but acknowledged the severity. “It is a major concern… It is a big number. That’s why we are raising this matter in the public,” he said.
The department has identified alcohol abuse by parents as a major contributing factor in many of these cases. Zuzile assured that criminal cases are being pursued against negligent or abusive parents. “We have managed to trace a majority of these [abandonment] cases… criminal cases have been opened and are being investigated by police,” he confirmed.
The spokesperson issued a direct plea to struggling parents and the broader community. He urged anyone unable to care for a child to hand the infant over to a social worker or the nearest police station, rather than abandoning them. He also called on community members to report any suspected abuse to authorities immediately.
Looking ahead, Zuzile said the department plans to intensify its community outreach, with 52 integrated programs scheduled for the financial year. He also highlighted collaborative programs with the Departments of Health and Education aimed at youth, including reproductive health education, as part of a longer-term preventative strategy.
The interview concluded with a somber reflection on the scale of the issue, underscoring a critical breakdown in family and community support systems that provincial authorities are now urgently working to address.