Cape Town – The discovery of an abandoned fetus on Saturday (19 September) in Delft has led the police to open an investigation.
“Delft police registered a concealment of birth case for investigation after a fetus was found on an open field in Morley Street, Delft South, on Saturday afternoon,” confirmed Sgt Wesley Twigg, a spokesperson for the Western Cape Police.
Twigg says the discovery was made around 12:35.
“According to reports the fetus was found by a member of the public. The circumstances surrounding the incident are under investigation and no arrests have been made.”
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It is unknown at this stage what the gestational age of the fetus is. According to information the fetus was allegedly found inside a plastic bag.
Twigg further appealed to anyone who has any information about this incident to contact Crime Stop on 08600 10111 or use the mobile application MySAPS anonymously.
The latest discovery comes a month after the Ilitha Labantu organisation expressed their concern after a newborn baby was found in a drain in Delft on 19 August. The organisation strives to end violence and abuse against women and children in disadvantaged communities. At the time this was the second baby found abandoned on the Cape Flats, with the other incident reported in Hanover Park.
Soon after these discoveries Siyabuleka Monakali, attached to Ilitha Labantu, told the TygerBurger: “Incidents such as these must be treated with the seriousness they deserve, and difficult circumstances cannot be used to excuse the abandonment or death of a newborn.”
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In the meantime, renewed calls have been made by the Free State Police to help track down the mother of a newborn girl who was left abandoned in July at a vandalized building in Steynsrus.
On Friday (18 September) Sgt Josephine Rani, spokesperson for the Free State Police, confirmed the baby girl is growing stronger by the day.
In a separate incident, a newborn baby boy was left abandoned at a shopping mall in Gqeberha, Eastern Cape last month. Provincial police spokesperson Captain Sandra Janse van Rensburg confirmed the boy was warmly wrapped when found.
