22/01/2026
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1N2Y3xrAUu/
THE NUMBERS TELL A STORY. A PAINFUL ONE.
In just 5 years, South Africa published 516 news articles about abandoned babies.
Behind those headlines were 283 babies found dead.
Not statistics. Lives.
In 2025 alone:
📰 84 articles reported abandoned babies
⚰️ 45 of those babies were already dead
🛟 Only 29 babies were safely relinquished through baby savers
Those are 29 lives that did not become headlines.
If baby savers were formally recognised by the Department of Social Development as a safe, legal alternative, many more babies could be saved. Research has long estimated that around 3 500 babies are unsafely abandoned in South Africa every year. That number is not inevitable — it is preventable. Babies are not dying because safe options don’t work; they are dying because safe options are not officially recognised, protected, or promoted. When the law lags behind reality, babies pay the price.
Every article represents a moment of desperation.
Every death represents a moment where no safe option felt possible.
Baby savers don’t create abandonment.
They interrupt it.
They turn headlines about death into stories of survival.
If we are outraged by the numbers, we must be brave enough to support solutions that save lives.
Compassion saves babies. Silence kills them.
