Foetus Found Dumped in Durban Dustbin, Newborn Baby Boy Also Found Dead in Bush in Separate Incident

• Paramedics responded to a scene in Glenwood on Monday morning where a foetus was found
• The foetus was found dumped in a dustbin by people who were scratching through the rubbish
• In a separate incident, a newborn baby boy's dead body was found dumped in a bush in Silverglen

Briefly News journalist Byron Pillay has spent a decade reporting on the South African political landscape, crime and social issues.

KWAZULU-NATAL – Two gruesome discoveries were made in the Durban area within the space of 24 hours. ALS Paramedics and Amawele Emergency Services responded to cases in which a newborn baby and a foetus were both found dumped.

Foetus found in dustbin

ALS Paramedics responded to a call from a security company on Monday morning, 18 November 2024, about a foetus that was found in a bin. The discovery was made on JB Marks Road in Glenwood just after 9am.

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According to information received, it is alleged that people digging through bins found the foetus and then alerted authorities to the find.

Garrith Jamieson from ALS Paramedics noted that SAPS were called to the scene and will investigate further, and paramedics also responded to the matter.

“Unfortunately, there was nothing paramedics could do, and the foetus was declared deceased.”

The discovery came less than 24 hours after another gruesome incident in Chatsworth.

Baby boy found dead in bush

In the other incident, paramedics from Amawele Emergency Services responded to an incident in Bulbul Drive, Silverglen, in Chatsworth. The incident took place on the afternoon of Sunday, 18 Novermber.

A passerby contacted authorities after they spotted the body of a newborn baby boy in a bush.

The umbilical cord was still attached to the newborn. Paramedics assessed the newborn but found that nothing else could be done and declared him deceased on scene.

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Nurse offers insight into unplanned pregnancies

A registered nurse who spoke to Briefly News touched on the issue of mothers dumping their children and said there were many reasons why they chose to do so.

"Many mothers fear when it comes to the Counselling on Termination of Pregnancy (CTOP), as most of the time it was unplanned pregnancies."

She said that health education was done routinely at primary healthcare level, through the media and even during school visits, so it was just up to individual to seek medical assistance before resorting to dumping their babies.

Baby dumped on Durban bench

In a related article, Briefly News reported that a baby was abandoned on a bench in Durban. A video of the baby being abandoned went viral and sparked emotional reactions online.

Child welfare expert Lindiwe Mthimkhulu described the complex factors that led to such incidents.

Source: Briefly News