“Heartbreaking”: 4 Children Abandoned by Mother in Hazelmere After Father’s Arrest

• Four children aged between one and eleven were found home alone in Hazelmere, KwaZulu-Natal
• Their mother fled following an assault, and their father was arrested shortly afterwards, leaving the children to fend for themselves
• The children's aunt was contacted by authorities but refused to take them in, leaving officials scrambling to find anyone willing to help

Four young children in Hazelmere, KwaZulu-Natal, were left to fend for themselves after both parents were suddenly out of the picture on the same day. The youngest is just one year old. The oldest is eleven. Concerned neighbours raised the alarm after realising the children were alone, contacting the Reaction Unit South Africa (RUSA) Operations Centre.

Investigators found that the children's mother had fled the home after being assaulted by their father. Their father was arrested the next morning for the abuse. With both parents gone, no one was left to care for the children.

Read also

4-year-old child dies after freak accident in Vanderbijlpark

South African hip-hop artist and TV personality Jub Jub shared the story on his Facebook page on 22 June 2026 with the message:

"HEARTBREAKING: Four children, including a one-year-old now living alone after being abandoned by their mother. The father of the children was arrested for abusing their mother."

Family refuses to step in

RUSA officers managed to track down the children's aunt, but she refused to take them in. With no immediate family willing to help, authorities took the unusual step of making the children's situation public, appealing to anyone who might know a relative or welfare organisation that could step in.

Anyone with information was urged to contact RUSA at 086 1234 333.

Community left asking hard questions

The story raised serious concerns about what happens to children when domestic violence tears a family apart overnight. The mother's whereabouts remained unknown at the time of publishing, and no new developments had emerged since the incident earlier in the year.

See the Facebook post below:

Mzansi saddened by the abandoned children

Read also

"No one will change my mind": PA leader Teresa Nortje resigns to join March and March

South Africans responded to Jub Jub's Facebook post with grief and frustration:

@ndivhuwo_ramuhashi questioned:

"Where are the local social workers?"

@clonex_interior said:

"The one who arrested the father because of abusing the wife was supposed to take care of the kids. You can't leave the kids like that; they must also find the close family members."

@stompie_radebe said:

"Oooh Jesus!"

@mampe_lucy wrote:

"Eish!"

@thuli_khawula questioned:

"She kept having babies one after another. What's wrong with women?"

@goodman_mashele_nghamuni said:

"I wish they could get urgent help, eish."

More on child abandonment in SA

• Briefly News reported on a KwaZulu-Natal mother who left her child behind to travel to another province with her boyfriend.
• A baby found alone on a bench in Durban broke hearts across South Africa, and a child welfare expert explained the one factor most people weren't considering.
• A 12-year-old boy in Verulam was found dead after allegedly being left alone to care for his toddler brother while his mother was away.

Source: Briefly News