Faizel Patel, Radio Islam News – 2013-04-24

An unborn baby was offered for adoption for a price on Gumtree by a 24-year-old 2 month pregnant woman from Kuils River in Cape Town.

The advert was posted on 17 April by the advertiser who described herself as a “beautiful black woman who would like to give the baby up for adoption due to “financial reasons” and “school commitment. She asked anyone interested in adopting the baby to call a cellphone number.

By 7pm on Monday, 88 people had viewed the page. However, on Tuesday it appeared the advert had been removed.

The Western Cape social development department had unsuccessfully tried to identify the advertiser. Social Development MEC Albert Fritz said, “We have been trying to contact the number given online, but have not been able to. It appears the advert has been removed from the website.

Fritz equated the advertisement to child trafficking. He said “this is the first case like this that we have picked up on Gumtree. A few days ago we saw another advert for people wanting to adopt a child.”

Fritz said he had since tasked a team with monitoring websites like Gumtree for the illegal sale or adoption of children. He reiterated that anyone caught trying to buy or sell a child online would be “immediately prosecuted and Children’s Act is very clear on this. “The Children's Act prohibits advertising the adoption of babies and children," he said.

Fritz emphasized the Adoption Act did provide for compensation for reasonable medical expenses during pregnancy, but this had to be done through the proper channels. "A woman can't be paid for giving the child [up] for adoption. The process has to be done through our department,” he added

Captain FC van Wyk said the advert had not been reported to the police.