Mother released on bail after allegedly dumping child

The young mother who allegedly abandoned her baby inside a cement pipe on a dumpsite has been released on a R1 000 bail.

This comes after a delay in the postmortem, which was only done this week - almost two weeks after the child died.

Asanda Pityana, 26, appeared in court on Thursday but the case was remanded to Friday.

At the bail application, in the Motherwell Magistrate’s Court, Pityana was charged with attempted murder and child abandonment.

The baby died on September 24, while receiving treatment at Dora Nginza Hospital.

Police spokesperson Colonel Priscilla Naidu confirmed that the postmortem showed that the cause of death was abdominal sepsis.

“The investigating officer has testified as to what the doctors cause of death findings are,” she said.

Pityana was initially charged with child abandonment and attempted murder. But after the baby’s death, the charge was changed to murder.

The baby boy, found naked and crying about 30m from Malinga Street on September 20, died four days after being found.

At the time, angry residents joined in the search for Pityana, threatening to take the law into their own hands should they find her before the police.

Police say that Pityana, who has been in custody since the death, should have called for help, or alerted authorities for medical assistance, but instead abandoned the child.

Pityana is due to appear in the same court on November 15.