Newborn Found Abandoned at Gqeberha Police Station, SAPS On the Search For Parent

• A woman from the Eastern Cape abandoned her child at a South African Police Service station in Gqeberha
• The child was found wrapped in blankets in the early hours of the morning
• While others congratulated the woman for not killing the child, some joked that the father could be a police officer

Tebogo Mokwena, a Briefly News current affairs journalist in Johannesburg, South Africa, covered police investigations and court cases at Daily Sun for over three years.

The South African Police Service in the Eastern Cape opened the police station in Gqeberha and were greeted by the sight of an abandoned baby. The police opened an abandonment case, and South Africans were not happy with what the mother did but were thankful that the baby was alive. Some made jokes that the father might be in the police station.

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Abandoned baby found at Gqeberha Police Station

According to SABC News, the baby was found at the Gqeberha police station on 13 February. A female police officer was walking towards a police vehicle when she heard a baby crying nearby. She discovered the baby was wrapped in a brown and black towel and a white blanket. A case of abandonment has been opened against the mother of the boy.

Netizens share mixed feelings

South Africans on Facebook shared mixed feelings. Some were disappointed in the mother but were relieved she didn’t do anything terrible to harm the child.

Svea Jörgens said:

“Leaving a child at a police station is far from abandonment. It’s possibly the best decision the mother could have made for the baby. Turning her into a criminal won’t make her come forward and ask for help.”

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Ntombi Mtshaulana added:

"The baby was left at a safe place. This means the mother, deep down, cares.”

Bfana Nungu added:

“At least the baby was taken and abandoned there so that he will be taken to a safe place, unlike babies that are being killed every day.”

Others joked that the baby’s father worked at the police station.

Previous Mvelo Macingwana Mxhego said:

“One of the police officers might be the father.”

Kash Msuthu remarks:

“The father is working there.”

Hilda Thembi observed:

"The father abandoned the mother while she was pregnant. He is there.”

Lollie Emabheleni Zanie Godlo said:

“Baby daddy is there, I tell you. The baby daddy is a cop.”

Woman abandons baby in Durban

In a similar article, Briefly News reported that a woman abandoned her baby in Durban and wrote a letter.

The woman allegedly left the baby with a bag of formula milk, nappies and a pacifier. She also left a note asking the authorities not to judge her as she tried getting help from the social workers and failed.

Source: Briefly News