This 21-year-old mother from a village in Limpopo faces the possibility of losing parental rights to her two-year-old son after she was arrested for encouraging the little boy to smoke dagga and consume alcohol.
Watch: Limpopo mom goes viral after giving son dagga and alcohol
According to Limpopo police spokesperson Brigadier Motlafela Mojapelo, Mphepu police were alerted about the mom from Rabali Village after videos of her feeding her son Savanna Cider and dagga went viral on social media.
The woman could be clearly seen holding the joint, while her two-year-old son, completely oblivious to what was happening, enthusiastically puffed on the drug.
This, Brig. Mojapelo noted in a statement, was enough probable cause to charge the Limpopo mom and her friend (she doesn’t appear in the videos but you can hear her encouraging the boy to drink alcohol in the second clip) with contravening the provisions of the Children’s Act, 38 of 2005 (Child Abuse).
“The Provincial Commissioner of the South African Police Service in Limpopo Lieutenant General Nneke Ledwaba has strongly condemned the actions of the two women and has commended the police for their swift response,” the Limpopo police spokesperson said.
Will she face any jail time? Here’s what we believe
The complexities of this charge make it difficult to determine the penalties faced by the disgraced mom. There is a possibility that she may face a short sentence in prison.
However, we suspect that this won’t be the case. Instead, the Department of Social Development’s Child Protection Services (CPS) may be forced to step in to assess the mother’s fitness as the toddler’s primary caregiver.
There may be other steps taken in response to the charges but this will only be clear once she has appeared in court on Monday.
In the interim, the child has been handed over to the grandmother for caregiving.