Answering the question about why I entered the 2021 Isu Elihle competition. Such a formative experience, the mentoring, input and support provided by MMA is incredible, as were the people I worked with. What a privilege to participate and be entrusted with such painful stories.

Ke Nako! No one knows if Nonkululeko remembers much abt the 1st 9 months of life-perhaps her mama’s face or frequent tears & shouting or the gnawing fear when mama was sad Maybe she remembers the cold & unfamiliar police station for more facebook.com/BabySaversSA For the Voiceless

Day 6 of our #kenako #saferelinquishmentNOW campaign to legalise baby savers and today we feature the Baby Savers SA brand ambassador, Fikile Cele. This brave and inspiring woman was abandoned in a box outside a factory at birth and is now bringing hope to many others like her.

Thandi's heartbreaking story. How do you recover from such an awful discovery and the "what ifs"? Safe relinquishment through a baby saver could have saved this baby's life and countless like him. For every little one who deserved so much more, #kenako #saferelinquishmentNOW

Such a special story. Heartbroken for the mama who made this decision, but so grateful that she chose life for Ayabonga (& that she knew about the baby saver where she safely relinquished him). For desperate mamas who want to save their baby's life #kenako #saferelinquishmentNOW

We love sharing stories about children who've survived despite incredible adversity But, no child should have to start their life this way. This is what motivated that #kenako #saferelinquishmentNOW campaign. Even one mom deciding to relinquish not abandon, makes it worthwhile.

Too many babies who were healthy in the womb die horrible deaths because their mothers don't feel that they have options. Rest in peace sweet Peter, Nonthlantho and Ashleigh, you & those who have died whose names we don't know deserve so much better #kenako #saferelinquishmentNOW

1st of three stories about babies abandoned at Christmas. They confirm expert input about abandonment happening on a continuum, from safe relinquishment to unsafe abandonment to unsafe abandonment with intent to kill. Immanuel* was abandoned unsafely and was fortunate to survive.

The 2nd of our Christmas stories, one of the worst we have told. Baby Themba* was stabbed in the neck, suffocated and put in a packet. Legalising safe relinquishment will also lead to cases like this being better policed. For too many like Themba whose names we don't know #Kenako

Last of our three Christmas stories, this one a teenage mom who chose to safely relinquish her baby, Angel* on the same day Themba* was left for dead. Her choice saved Angel's life & after extended family decided to help raise Angel, she's now been reunited with her mama #kenako

Beautiful baby Dinero left in a sealed plastic bag on a field in a Johannesburg township. Her survival, thanks Itumaleng's cows and a kind elderly woman, is miraculous, but she still has so much to overcome. For all those like her who won't survive #kenakp #saferelinquishmentNOW

Baby Sizwe's story is heartbreaking, a 13 day old baby, cruelly beaten, restrained and left to die next to a highway. He deserved so much better, nurturing, care, protection and love, all possible through safe relinquishment. For all those like him #kenako #saferelinquishmentNOW

After four years of debate and consultation around the Children’s Amendment Bill, it took only half an hour for the Social Development Portfolio Committee to decide on amendments. It was done without a clause-by-clause analysis, without reference to ... dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-0…

Still dogged by controversy, the Children's Amendment Bill is now a shadow of it's former self with most of the most contested clauses relegated to a future iteration.But how it got to this point is noteworthy and next steps will be crucial.Daily Maverick dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-0…

16 Days of Activism, one of the few times we speak about violence against children. But events and outrage are poor substitutes for action. Gov can minimise child homicides today with the right funded policy-related interventions. It prefers a hue and cry dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-1…

SA has one of the highest rates of infanticide and neonaticide in the world. Yet, unlike Namibia, it has no plans to save lives through safe relinquishment saying its unconstitutional. As unsafe abandonment figures run rampant, we ask, what would it take for authorities to care?

dailymaverick.co.za/article/2024-0… The sharing of "nudes" is many of our children's new normal. It's why child sexual abuse sites are full of self-generated images of under 13s, some as young as 3. But children often don't disclose in case we take their devices away. So what can parents do?

DARK SECRETS: Abuse and suicide, the spectre that haunts elite boys’ schools: St Andrew’s College (Part Three) dailymaverick.co.za/article/2024-0…