A young mother’s life has been torn apart after an official of a child adoption organisation allegedly forced her to give up her five-month-old son.
In what appears to be a growing illegal child adoption scandal in South Africa, Nomalanga* claims she was blackmailed into signing adoption papers of her baby.
In a consent form, rubber stamped by the Department of Social Development (DSD) dated April 16, it states that Nomalanga voluntarily consented to the adoption of her son, Tumelo*.
Tumelo is currently living at a children’s home after he was allegedly taken away from her on suspicion of her doing drugs, an allegation Nomalanga denies.
The document reads in part: “I can hereby voluntarily consent to the adoption of the said child to a person or persons unknown to me.”
However, speaking exclusively to The Saturday Star, 21-year-old Nomalanga claims she was blackmailed into signing the papers.
She said an official, known to The Saturday Star, from a Brakpan non-profit-organisation (NPO), Rata Social Services, told her if she did not give away the baby she was also going to lose her two-year-old first-born daughter.
This, after the official accused her of doing drugs and “sleeping around”.
Telling her story to The Star, Nomalanga, who lives with her parents in Brakpan, said her ordeal started a few days after she gave birth to Tumelo.
“After I gave birth I felt sick and my mother suggested I take the children away so I can take care of myself. So her grandmother took care of the eldest and Tumelo went to stay with one of my mother’s best friends so she could take proper care of him.
“Unfortunately, when I went to fetch my child she told me someone else was taking care of him, to my surprise,” Nomalanga said.
She said her mother’s best friend eventually told her she had given her son up for adoption without her consent. However after inquiries from Nomalanga, Tumelo was put in a children’s home, known to The Star
Yesterday, Nomalanga was able to withdraw the adoption consent form she had signed.
“I truly feel that there is something else at play here. There is something happening, because the day I reported that my child could be missing, I received a call from the Rata official to suggest I give my child up for adoption.
“I don’t do drugs. I also don’t drink. Yes I’m young but I’m a fit mother,” she said.
Asked where the child’s father was, Nomalanga said he had walked away before the child was born. She confirmed that the same man fathered both children.
The DSD did not respond to questions sent by The Saturday Star
Speaking to The Star, one of the owners of the centre, also known to The Saturday Star, where Tumelo is kept, vouched for Nomalanga, saying she did not do drugs and the child was healthy and strong.
“The child is doing well. He is about to be six months old in June, which means he will start eating proper food,” he said.
Investigations by The Saturday Star found that by law, consent of both parents is mandatory in giving up a child for adoption.
According to that law, adoption refers to a situation whereby a child’s legal relationship with their birth parents has ended and the child has become a legal member of a new family. Forced adoption is the removal of a child without the consent of their parents.
Rata Social Services NPC is an NPO focusing on children at risk, rendering preventative and statutory services.
Their landline rang unanswered.