NPO urges Gauteng DSD to honour court order allowing it to use baby saving boxes

Non-profit coalition of organisations, Baby Savers South Afric,a is calling on the Gauteng Department of Social Development (DSD) to honour the High Court’s order that allows the NPO to use emergency safe drop-off facilities for abandoned children.

The NPO and the department have been locked in a legal spat following the department’s directive in 2023 that the practice of baby saving boxes is illegal.

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According to the DSD, there are several reasons why baby boxes should be stopped.

This includes the issue of there being no provisions made for the practice of a private person receiving a child in the Children’s Act.

In August 2024, the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria ruled that baby saving boxes are legal pending the finalisation of the NPO' constitutional challenge.

The NPOs were informed by the Gauteng DSD in 2023 that they should halt all baby saving box practices as it is illegal.

The practice, which was first established by a faith-based organisation, Door of Hope, two decades ago, provides a safe place for abandoned babies to be dropped off at.

The department’s director for children’s services Yvonne Deonarian explained that they only raised their issues in 2023 due to a rise in concerns about the lack of regulations.

“So, baby savers is not regulated by any piece of legislation. They do not have trained social workers who do not have the authority to approach the children's court. They do not have the protocol aligned to what the act is promoting.”

Meanwhile, the NPO’s legal representative, Nicole Irose,noted that they do not understand why the department is apprehensive about the practice.

“There's been a campaign of fearmongering by the departments to organisations that form part of the child protection ecosystem to the extent that a lot of entities feel petrified to act when a baby is relinquished through a baby saver box, which has significant knock-on effects for that child because the children are at the heart of these issues."