New-born baby found in plastic bag

A new-born baby weighing 4kg wrapped in a plastic bag was found inside a rubbish bin outside Tops Liquor Store in Malcomess Mall in Southernwood on Thursday morning.

The gruesome discovery was made by a homeless beggar scavenging for food in the bin. Centre manager Eric Moss said the "big" baby was still wet and had long black hair.

Tops Liquor Store could not open for three hours as the police had closed off the area for investigation.

The East London police have opened an inquest docket following the discovery of the baby.

East London spokeswoman Warrant Officer Hazel Mqala said  it was a foetus possibly dumped after an abortion. “We have opened the inquiry and the foetus is in the state mortuary. No arrest  have been made so far. We still follow the information.”

Masimanyane Women’s Support spokeswoman Lesley-Ann Foster said the government and NGO should work together to prevent teenage pregnancy. Foster said teenage pregnancies often contributed a lot to the problem of unwanted pregnancy which then leads to  abortion.

“But we don’t actually know the real circumstances surrounding how the foetus ended there and we should not be too tough on the mother because where there is pregnancy there is a man involved.”

Foster called for the society to also interrogate the role played by men in issues of teenage pregnancies.  “We don’t know the role of men and the influence they might have played in unwanted pregnancies.”