Durban woman hopes to foster abandoned baby she found

Portia Msimang was on her morning jog at a sports field in the area south of Durban on Thursday when she heard a strange noise.

"At the time, I thought it was a cat crying. So when I did my second round, I heard the same noise and I started to get worried. I decided to go to one of my neighbours because I was scared.

"I knocked on the door. The gentleman came out and I asked him to come and please help me see what is going on [at the field]. He came with gentleman helped me and he said there is a baby here."

They found a baby boy, naked and covered in mosquito bites on the wet grass.

Msimang says word spread quickly and community members flocked to the field to help.

"There were almost 20 of us there. Everybody woke up and came with their night dresses and gowns. A young boy even came with some porridge to give the baby. It was so cute."

The newborn was bundled up and rushed to a nearby clinic, while others made calls to the Social Development Department.

Msimang says seeing the baby motivated her to start the application process to foster him. She says hopes it will be successful.

"I said there must be a reason God made me come to the grounds for a jog. I have got two sons and I am a single parent. I have got my own baking business. I spoke to my sons and we decided with my boys that we would like to foster the baby."

The department says the newborn is health and doing well.

It says the foster care process includes screenings and house checks, and can sometimes be lengthy.

A case of child abandonment has been opened with police.

Meanwhile on the Bluff, Isiaiah 54 Children's Sanctuary has also recently attended to a 14-month-old that was abandoned in Sydenham.

Founder Glynnis Dauth says part of the problem lies government's lack of funding for homes and organisations like theirs.

She says it limits options for desperate mothers to safely handover their baby.

"Let them leave their babies in safe places instead of dumping them anywhere and just by chance having somebody finding them. They need to pass laws and stand their ground and say ‘Okay, if abandonment is real, let’s get these people to get [baby] boxes. We are happy to help with moderating them, but we need safe abandonment laws."