In just six months in 2025, more than 1,600 vulnerable children in the Eastern Cape had to be moved from their homes and housed at various places of safety by the provincial government.
They had been victims of rape and physical abuse, mostly at the hands of their relatives and loved ones.
This while 844 other children were placed in foster care, in the period between April and September, for reasons that included abandonment, deliberate neglect, sexual and physical abuse, taking the total of those in the foster care system to 44,363.
Such children had, in recent years, been moved to foster care after court orders.
This is revealed in the social development department’s mid-year report, which covers the period between April and September 2025, and was tabled before Bhisho legislature in December.
Among those alleged rape victims is *Iminathi (not her real name) who was a bubbly and talkative 12-year-old girl who excelled in grade 5.
She had been interacting well with her classmates in one of the Eastern Cape villages and also participated in a number of sporting activities.
She had dreams of one day becoming a professional nurse, just like her late grandmother.
However, her dreams were derailed, as she has now lost interest in her studies and sport, and also became withdrawn from her usual activities.
Iminathi is a victim of a rape, allegedly at the hands of her stepfather.
She has been moved to a place of safety in Buffalo City Metro.
Both her mother and stepfather are allegedly alcoholics and substance abusers.
Her change in attitude and behaviour was picked up by her class teacher, who had also noticed that she was struggling to walk properly.
When the teacher pressed her on what had happened, Iminathi sobbed uncontrollably and said her stepfather had raped her, “over five times between February and March 2025”, while her mother had passed out in the same bed.
Her mother initially denied the claims when confronted by the school.
This matter was later brought to the attention of police, who arrested the alleged culprit.
It was a similar scenario for 13-year-old *Inga (not her real name), who too had to be taken to a place of safety after she endured physical and sexual abuse at the hands of a relative.
It happened at her home in Ngqeleni, near Mthatha.
She was allegedly raped a number of times by her uncle who threatened to kill her and her mother if she ever told anyone about her ordeal.
After her third alleged rape, she drew up the courage to inform her mother.
The incident divided her family. However, her mother eventually laid a criminal case against the man, who was later arrested. The matter is still before court.
These devastating stories were narrated on Thursday by officials at two child and youth care centres in BCM and OR Tambo districts, where similar cases are said to be prevalent.
They are but two of the 4,630 young children in the province, aged between 0 and 18 years, who endured some form of abuse between April 2024 and the end of September 2025.
According to social development spokesperson Mpumzi Zuzile, 3,000 children across the province were victims of either neglect and abandonment or sexual and/or physical abuse in 2024/2025.
In the first half of 2025/2026, between April 1 and September 30, 1,630 children suffered the same fate.
According to the department’s report, 1,068 of them were girls and 562 were boys.
Many of them had to be placed in places of safety.
Some were placed in foster care, with relatives and others also coming on board.
In December alone, 63 children had to be moved to places of safety due to neglect, while others were victims of sexual and physical abuse.
Of those 63 children, 26 were sexually abused, 16 physically abused, and 21 were abandoned by their parents during the festive season.
Most of these cases, Zuzile said, were recorded in the OR Tambo district and Buffalo City Metro.
Social development MEC Bukiwe Fanta this week said such figures highlighted “a growing crisis that demands immediate and decisive action”.
“The deliberate abandonment and abuse of children is a deeply disturbing act that violates the fundamental rights of our most vulnerable citizens.
“Such acts not only endanger the lives of children but also reflect a serious breakdown in community and familial support systems,” Fanta said.
The MEC issued a warning to parents and guardians who abandoned their children or failed to protect them from abuse, saying those found guilty of such acts would face severe legal consequences.
Reflecting on the 2024/2025 figures, Zuzile said 1,273 children were sexually abused in that period, 1,324 neglected and left without any food for days, 30 abandoned, 103 emotionally abused, and 356 children had to be removed from their homes due to their parents physically abusing them.
“The first role of the department is not to take these children to shelters as we try by all means to preserve a family structure.
“Depending on the type of abuse, we do investigate and check whether there are any family members or relatives willing to take care of such abused, neglected or abandoned children.
“These are carefully vetted.
“In cases where no-one is willing to take care of the vulnerable child, we then find a place of safety for them.”
In the current financial year, Zuzile said, his department was supporting 28 child and youth care centres across the province, at a cost of R65.9m.
A centre in BCM, where they had sent 72 vulnerable children, was receiving more than R3.2m a year, or R4,282 for each child.
Daily Dispatch
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