Baby Savers SA and Door of Hope will face DSD in the Pretoria High Court
DSD threatened the closure of the Door of Hope Children’s Mission and removal of the 57 children in their care
Baby Savers SA, an organisation dedicated to offering desperate mothers an option for safe relinquishment of unwanted babies as a measure to address the scourge of baby abandonment in South Africa, won a small victory in the Pretoria High court.
An abandoned Baby in South Africa.
Image: Supplied
The court granted the organisation an extention to the rule nisi in the matter between the Door of Hope Children’s Mission as first applicants, Baby Savers SA as second applicants and the Department of Social Development (DSD) among others as respondents.
The extension of rule nisi follows an agreement between the parties pending the hearing of the main application. The rule nisi charges DSD to treat the Door of Hope Children’s Mission as a registered Child and Youth Care Centre and stops the department from taking any action against the members of the second applicants.
This dispute arose after the DSD threatened the closure of the Door of Hope Children’s Mission and removal of the 57 children in their care in 2024 due to them operating a baby saver device. The Door of Hope Children’s Mission cites reasons for its refusal to close its baby saver being that it is a life-saving device and that it serves as a last resort to desperate mothers who have no other available options.
In 2023, the DSD issued a directive declaring all baby saver devices illegal. According to the department, one of their main reasons to close Baby Savers in Gauteng is that by abandoning the baby, the mother is denying that child a right to their family name and culture. This reason is slammed by the applicants as a total disregard for a child’s right to life, which should be its first priority.
It is estimated that around 3500 babies are abandoned annually in South Africa, most of which are abandoned in unsafe locations such as pit latrines, dumpsters, fields, and parks. For every baby found alive, two are found dead.
Although the parties have agreed to extend the rule nisi today, the main application is yet to be assigned a court date and the refusal of the department to fund the first applicant despite the rule nisi threatens the very existence of an organisation that has for two decades been a safe haven for many of Johannesburg’s forgotten and abandoned children, providing essential care and love to the most vulnerable in society.
The extention has been granted until January 26.