KwaZulu-Natal Mother Abandons Baby for Lobola Negotiations: Netizens Fuming
- South Africans were livid when a woman from KwaZulu-Natal abandoned her child for a celebration
- The woman, who is from Verulam, left her child in town and travelled to another province with her boyfriend to negotiate lobola
- Netizens slammed the mother and her reasons for leaving the child, and others were not surprised at the behaviour
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Tebogo Mokwena, a Briefly News current affairs journalist based in Johannesburg, South Africa, covered a range of criminal activities, including cash-in-transit heists, kidnappings, taxi violence, police investigations, police shootouts, and court cases at Daily Sun for over three years.
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VERULAM, KWAZULU-NATAL — South Africans criticized a woman from Verulam in KwaZulu-Natal who left her child to go to lobola negotiations on 1 August 2025.
According to Reaction Unit South Africa (RUSA), the woman abandoned her two-year-old child in the Verulam CBD with two vendors she was accustomed to talking to while shopping in the CBD. The mother asked if she could leave her child in the stalls for a short period.
When the vendors closed shop, the mother had still not returned. They called her out of concern, and were astonished when she told them that she was on her way to Hluhluwe in the northern parts of the province with her new boyfriend to negotiate lobola. They contacted her hours later, and she said that she was in another part of the province. She then switched her phone off.
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The mother returned two days later and arrived at the offices of RUSA. She confessed that she had drunk alcohol and had become intoxicated while in Hluhluwe. However, when she asked for her child, she was referred to the South African Police Service.
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Woman accused of negligence
Recently, a mother from Newclare in Johannesburg went viral after she and three of her associates made her four-year-old son smoke a pipe of drugs. The incident was recorded on camera, and it sparked widespread outrage.
She was arrested and appeared before the Johannesburg Magistrates' Court on 31 July 2025, charged with attempted murder and child abuse. She was remanded and is set to apply for bail.
What did South Africans say?
Netizens commenting on Facebook condemned the mother's actions.
Sthabiso Bohlela said:
"For years, mothers have left their babies behind to marry other men and go on to live a comfortable life in marriage without their children."
Samie Jolarh said:
"Take her to social workers because Sne doesn't deserve to be a mother."
Leslie Nelson said:
"How could a mother be so cruel? The Lord will protect the little angel."
Sean Ramlall said:
"The vendors are heroes for safeguarding this child, because child abuse and child murders have become the norm in SA."
George Raphael said:
"Somehow, somewhere, someone is struggling to have a child while those who are fertile do not appreciate the blessing."
Verulam couple abandons child while having sex
In a related article, Briefly News reported that a couple from Verulam was caught having sex in the bushes. They abandoned their child, who was left a few metres away.
RUSA responded to complaints of a child who was crying. They inspected the area and found a couple having sex. When the couple saw RUSA officers, they grabbed their child and ran away.
Proofreading by Kelly Lippke, copy editor at Briefly.co.za.
Source: Briefly News
