South Africa State Social Worker Caught Selling Babies

Sharon Mushokabanji, who ” had faked her qualifications and wasn’t registered at the Council for Social Service Professions” yet was employed as a state social worker allegedly sold babies for an “adoption fee” of 400 Rand (60 USD.) This was discovered only after she was “fired for fraud in December, shortly after Child Welfare found out that she had stolen state grant money from a foster parent’s bank account.”

Additionally, “[t]wo more social workers – the programme manager and office head – had been fired because they were not registered.

Another worker was dismissed for distributing pornography.

The employment of three unregistered social workers has far-reaching consequences because they had conducted statutory work.

This renders all court reports and legal submissions they had made or court evidence they had given illegal.”

Other Allegations

Other allegations against Child Welfare include that “[a] shelter supported by Child Welfare was closed towards the end of last year and 11 children had to be removed after allegations of abuse, neglect and rape.

Children had allegedly been exposed to pornography and a 14-year-old girl fell pregnant after she was raped. She was forced to give birth in secret.

City Press understood that Child Welfare met a top police delegation last week to investigate fraud allegations against Mushokabanji and probe the possible -existence of a child trafficking syndicate on the East Rand that targeted neglected and abused children.

A teenage boy in one of the shelters claimed that a Nigerian man – accompanied by Mushokabanji – attempted to recruit him last year as an underage sex worker and promised him money, a cellphone and a nice place to live in return.”

Trafficking in 2010

“Child Welfare officials told police they suspected that Mushokabanji was still involved in the adoption scam.

She removed files, a stamp and letterheads from the office when she was fired.

Since then, she advertised herself on social network sites as both a social worker at Child Welfare and the owner of a mediation firm that worked with children and used several pseudonyms.

Child Welfare’s report said some of the people she had made “arrangements” with had reported that she was still contacting them, demanding more money for a baby.

Johannesburg businessman Harold Whiteley paid Mushokabanji R3 000[450 USD] in July last year to adopt a Mozambican baby.

He is 72 and would not, under usual circumstances, have qualified to adopt a child.”

After she asked for an additional R3 000, he called the cops to have her arrested. They did not arrest her at the time and he ended the agreement with her.
R400 to buy a baby
[City Press 4/3/11 by Jacqueline Pauw]

REFORM Puzzle Piece