A newborn baby was found wrapped in a blue plastic bag near the Golden Highway in Gauteng on Monday.
Garbage recyclers were searching through the rubble when they discovered "something strange" and reported it to someone at one of the nearby shops, who immediately alerted emergency services.
Upon arrival, paramedics declared the male child dead at the scene.
"Bystanders discovered the baby and we were dispatched at around 10:30. By the time I had arrived at the scene, the baby was declared dead," Mohammed Ebrahim of Pulsate Emergency Services told News24.
A witness who worked at a shop nearby described the scene.
"The baby was dumped in a paint tin full of blood with the umbilical cord still wrapped around its neck," she explained.
Police spokesperson for the Soweto East Cluster, Captain Hitler Ngwenya, told News 24 that the baby boy has since been transported to the Diepkloof mortuary.
"No arrest have been made. We have opened a case of concealment of birth and we are investigating," he said.
Anyone with further information has been urged to come forward.
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