“Small things, great love”: The Durban safe house where babies wait for a home
Founder of Baby Home Durban North, Joanne Teunissen (right) and her daughter Tatum Teunissen (left), have their hands full with children needing a place to call home.(Photo: Halden Krog/Spotlight)
Spotlight meets the team assisting despairing mums in Durban, while raising babies and toddlers in a happy temporary home, complete with excursions to Spur.
Behind every abandoned baby is a mother in crisis – overwhelmed and desperate, a situation often exacerbated by poverty.
South Africa recorded 595 cases of child abandonment in 2024,…
Cultural Critique: Newspapers often engage in cultural critique, analyzing trends
and societal issues through a critical lens.

Keystone
Fun South African Fact: South Africa is known as the “Rainbow Nation” thanks to its mix of cultures across the country. The status of being a cultural “melting pot” is evident in the fact that South Africa has a whopping 11 official languages: English, Afrikaans, isiZulu, isiXhosa, IsiNdebele, Sesotho, Northern Sotho, Setswana, SiSwati, Tshivenda, Xitsonga. Most South Africans speak more than one national language. IsiZulu is the most common first language and isiXhosa is second. Fun fact – did you know the people of Wakanda speak isiXhosa in Marvel’s Black Panther movie?