Dear Editor
Making safe relinquishment and the work of baby savers illegal will lead to far greater infant abandonment and needless deaths across South Africa.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) is repulsed that the Department of Social Development (DSD) wants to criminalise baby savers. The DA will oppose this proposed amendment to the Children’s Act in every way possible.
We will not allow a culture in SA to exist where desperate mothers are forced to abandon their babies in unsafe locations such as fields, dumpsites and sewers, because the safe relinquishment and the operation of baby savers are criminalised.
In a deeply concerning move, the DSD has proposed redefining an “abandoned child” to include any baby safely relinquished or placed in a baby saver. This would criminalise desperate mothers and the registered child protection organisations that have saved countless lives.
The DSD does this while turning a blind eye to the lives saved through safe relinquishment, the countless babies who have been abandoned or left to die, expert warnings from child protection stakeholders, the ongoing Gauteng High Court case protecting Baby Saver SA and Door of Hope, and the Constitution and Children’s Act, which exist to safeguard not endanger children.
Furthermore, DSD has failed to provide an explanation for this proposed amendment or any definitions for ‘safe relinquishment’ and ‘baby savers’.
If this amendment passes, organisations who operate baby savers will be forced to close while DSD repeatedly fails to provide a viable, humane alternative.
There are many reasons as to why babies are abandoned. These, inter alia, include, but are not limited to, poverty, gender-based violence, teenage or unwanted pregnancy, lack of sufficient pregnancy counselling, child conceived as a result of rape, lack of access to family planning services like contraception, incest and failed illegal abortions.
The DSD’s reckless plan fails to:
- Legally recognise baby savers and baby safe havens as critical safety nets;
- Provide for safe relinquishment as a humane and non-criminal alternative;
- Uphold the rights of children to life, safety, and protection from neglect;
- Exclude safely relinquished babies from the legal definition of “abandoned child”;
- And ensure that safe relinquishment does not shield individuals from criminal liability for any offences committed against a child prior to relinquishment.
Furthermore, the DSD’s amendment fails to recognise:
- Section 28(1)(d) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 which affords all children the right to be protected from maltreatment, neglect, abuse, or degradation;
- Section 28(2) of the Constitution that a child’s best interests are of paramount importance in every matter concerning the child;
- Section 11 which further protects a child’s right to life.
We urge Minister Tolashe and the DSD to reconsider this dangerous and regressive amendment and heed the advice from civil society to help prevent the unnecessary and avoidable deaths of more innocent defenseless babies.
We call on every South African to urgently submit comment to the Department’s Children Amendment Bill, 2025 and express your objection to this cowardly attack on babies and child protection organisations. Objections and comments must be submitted by 25 October 2025 to MatlhogonoloS@dsd.gov.sa / ntopot@dsd.gov.sa / LuyandaMt@dsd.gov.sa.
Allowing safe relinquishment through baby savers or baby safe havens is a lifesaving, constitutionally aligned, and compassionate approach to child protection. Safe relinquishment saves lives. Criminalising it ends them.
Regards
Alexandra Abrahams MP
DA Spokesperson on Social Development