The news is full of reports of babies found abandoned throughout South Africa – it seems this sad situation is on the rise. For every one baby found alive (and often traumatized from being outside in the heat or cold, starving or bitten by rats, etc.) two babies are found dead. And many are never found.
In July of 1999 Door of Hope Children’s Mission installed the first ‘modern day’ Baby Saver or baby box, at their premises in Berea, Johannesburg in an effort to provide desperate girls and women with a safe relinquishment option as opposed to unsafe abandonment in a field, pit latrine, rubbish bin, etc.
A Baby Saver is a box-like structure in the wall of a Child and Youth Care Centre or a place of safety. Once a baby is placed inside the box an alarm is triggered that alerts a member of staff that a baby has arrived. The baby is then collected and attended to. With an approved baby saver which is not attached to the wall of a charitable institution, first responders and emergency medical services will collect the baby once the alarm is triggered.
The advantages of using a Baby Saver are, first, that it provides a safe alternative to unsafe infant abandonment and, second, that women can remain completely anonymous when relinquishing their infants.
Baby Savers are found around the world – in fact, Namibia developed a Safe Haven law in 2019 to curb the issue of unsafe infant abandonment when 13 foetuses were found abandoned in Windhoek every month (this in stark contrast to hundreds found abandoned monthly in South Africa).
As more Baby Savers opened in South Africa it became necessary to provide structure and protocols to ensure that these savers were being used safely and effectively, and so Baby Savers South Africa (BSSA), a national coalition of NPOs and organisations, was formed in 2021 as an overseeing body.
Importantly, Baby Savers SA insist that organisations that run a Baby Saver must work with a registered child protection organization (CPO), of crucial importance is that the provisions of the Children’s Act are adhered to, that no different procedure than the one prescribed by the Children’s Act is followed.
The only difference is the box, the life-saving box that becomes a link in the chain between life and death.
Baby Savers have saved hundreds of little lives over the years, babies who have been nurtured and loved, some have been reunited with their families, some have been adopted, and all have gone on to flourish and grow.
Fast forward to 2023 when the Gauteng Department of Social Development (GDSD) issued a directive that all baby boxes are illegal and must be closed down. When the Door of Hope continued to use this life saving device the GDSD threatened to remove all of its children and shut it down after more than two decades of service to South Africa’s most vulnerable members of society. It was this that sparked the institution of legal proceedings at the Pretoria High court to prevent the GDSD from following through with this shocking action.
An interim order was granted and extended to January 2026, which allows the Door of Hope and all other organisations that fall under the umbrella of Baby Savers SA to continue operating the Baby Saver device and the court order further provided that GDSD must regard these organisations as fully registered and must continue to render statutory services to children that are rescued through these savers.
To date the GDSD has not abided by the court order, failing to fund the Door of Hope; failing in some instances to provide the necessary statutory services to children and spreading a false message that “Baby Savers lead to child trafficking and have been shut down because they are illegal”.
GDSD ‘s argument for wanting to shut down the use of Baby Savers is that “anonymous abandonment” denies the child the right to their family, culture, religion and nationality. BSSA is firmly of the opinion that a child’s right to life in terms of our Constitution must be the first priority – thus Baby Savers are an essential element with regards to saving little lives.
The GDSD’s further argument is that it takes the responsibility to parent away from the mothers.
This completely ignores the context in which South Africa finds itself. Research has shown that women who abandon their infants are desperate, often victims of gender-based violence, forced prostitution, poverty, and have been abandoned by their families or partners.
Further to this interim order, Baby Savers SA launched a main application on 14 February 2025 dealing with the relevant sections of the Children’s Act by asking the courts to declare it constitutionally invalid to the extent that it does not allow for safe relinquishment.
Despite the launch of the main application GDSD ensured that they include the use of a Baby Saver in the definition of abandonment which was published on the 29th of September for public comment.
Therefore, GDSD are attempting to declare Baby Savers illegal before the matter enters the courts and have deliberately failed to file their papers in the main application causing significant delays and succeeding in their strategy of sneaking in the proposed amendment.
In a further media release they state that “they want to make it clear that Baby Saver operations are illegal in terms of the Children’s Act, Act 38 of 2005, as amended.” Effectively declaring the “proposed” amendment to be law before public comments have even closed. These actions by GDSD declare that South Africa is not a democracy, that the decisions of the courts mean nothing and should not be respected and that placing a bill for public commentary is just a formality and that according to GDSD whatever the public comments in respect of this new proposed amendment are it does not matter because they have already decided the outcome!
Meanwhile, women and girls are suffering. Within two weeks two young girls (that we know of) have been refused to give their babies up for adoption despite their parents giving consent. Both these girls have been refused hospital discharge and made to bond with their babies.
Others are complaining that social workers are completely ignoring them and then still others have been refused statutory services to children coming through a Baby Saver. Yet GDSD scramble to cover their tracks pointing the blame to organisations that want to help and continuing to allege that “options” of safe relinquishment are already available.
What this proposed amendment does is it says dumping a baby in a field, dustbin, toilet or rubbish dump is better than safely placing a baby in a Baby Saver which is padded and monitored 24/7. The safe relinquishment option of a Baby Saver will be seen as a criminal act – akin to dumping a baby in a sewer or in a field and leaving them to die – unless we can prevent this gazetted amendment from being promulgated. This same amendment was sent for comment to only a few organisations a few months ago.
When Baby Savers SA was alerted to it we sent in our objections along with some of our members. Our objections were sent to the very email addresses quoted on the request for public comment this time. So what happened to our previous objections and what will happen to the thousands of objections that will undoubtedly flood their inboxes this time?
Despite this uncertainty we encourage members of the public to help stop this law from being passed, to have their say, to take a stand for democracy, for the most vulnerable members of our society— our children and for the women who are left without options but want their children to survive and be cared for.
Submit your objections to the Bill by email to matlhogonolos@dsd.gov.za, ntopot@dsd.gov.za, luyandamt@dsd.gov.za before the 25th of October 2025.
We need your help South Africa; our children need your help!
#sapositivenews
