Nearly 150 000 children in South Africa have been left orphaned after Covid-19 associated deaths.
This according to a UN International Children’s Emergency Fund (Unicef) report.
This means children who have lost a parent, or both, or a secondary caregiver who can be a grandparent or even a foster parent which the child has known to be their only guardian.
“The tragic and increasing number of Covid-19 orphans is also a reminder that Covid-19 is not over, and the virus has led to the deaths of more than a million people globally this year alone,” according to WHO figures.
“Unicef South Africa continues its Covid-19 response with the national and provincial departments of health to help build further momentum towards the 70% coverage target of the adult population by the end the year.
“This includes strengthening vaccine cold chain management and systems, as well as communication and community engagement work to bolster Covid-19 vaccine coverage, as well as routine childhood immunisation.”
Unicef deputy representative for South Africa, Muriel Mafico, said the loss of a parent or caregiver had lifelong effects on children and that stability was key.
“Children’s lives have been devastated by the pandemic in so many ways and for those who have lost parents or caregivers the deep scars will last forever.
“But with love and care, access to social protection, education and opportunities for growth and development, these children can recover, thrive and realise their full potential.”
Since the global pandemic, nearly 10 000 children have made their way into foster care homes in the Western Cape Province.
The Department of Social Development (DSD) said while they could reveal the foster care figures, they were unable to determine how many children of this figure were left orphaned due to Covid-19, as they focused on placement and not the actual case of death of a parent or guardian.
In several cases, children could be placed in the care of a family member as opposed to being housed at a foster home.
Department spokesperson Esther Lewis said they hadn’t seen an increase during the pandemic but confirmed that close to 10 000 children were placed in foster care during that period.
“It must be noted that not all children who had lost a caregiver or both parents would enter the DSD child protection system, as they may have been taken in by family members via private arrangements.
“Furthermore, not all children placed in foster care or child protection systems are orphans. Many enter the foster care system after being declared in need of care and protection by the Children’s Court.
“This could be as a result of abandonment, abuse, exploitation or neglect. DSD WC hasn’t seen a significant increase in the number of children placed in foster care between 2019 and 2022, compared to the numbers recorded pre-Covid.
“Foster Care placements: 2019/20 3 478; 2020/21 2 892; 2021/22 3 492 – a total of 9 862.”
Head of marketing and communications at SOS Children’s Villages, Lebogang Phaweni, said they were heartbroken by the number of orphaned children and that they had placed nearly 3 000 in homes across the country.
She said this included providing care packages for families who were in need, such as toiletries, sanitisers and materials used to combat the virus, as well as providing education.
“More orphans mean there is a greater need for child protection services and organisations like ours.
“Specifically during Covid, we intensified family support through our Family Strengthening Programme (FSP), which is a community outreach programme aiming to capacitate families to better take care of themselves, and to better care for their children so that complete family breakdown is prevented.
“For these communities, we distributed information on Covid, prevention information and care information. We produced child-friendly content to reach out to the children and youth.
“Where we normally send these vulnerable families food packages, we also included care materials such as soap, sanitisers and disinfecting materials.
“This, because these families couldn’t afford to buy these Covid prevention materials on their own.
“SOS Children’s Villages in 2019 and 2020, distributed over 6 000 emergency hygiene packs and emergency food parcels for SOS beneficiaries. This is the support we gave families and communities across SA.
“In year 2020 the number of children in our villages was 688; year 2021, 690; and, 2022, 708. This is a total of 2 086.
“FSP (Family Strengthening Programme), 2020; 3 500 children and youth; 2021; 3 785 children and youth; and in 2022, 3 800 children and youth.”
Justin Foxton, of The Baby Home and Peace Agency, said they had on average looked after six babies at a time, but were unable to comment on how many were left orphaned.
“The orphan issue is a complex issue. You can have a partial orphan, where one parent dies, or where both parents die, or someone who was raised by a single parent. The statistics are shocking and it doesn’t give us much detail,” he said.