Mother of baby triplets to be deported from SA back to Zimbabwe

Cape Town - A Zimbabwean woman has made a desperate plea for a South African family to take in her baby triplets, saying she'd rather be separated from her children than take them to Zimbabwe, after she was told she'd be deported there next week.

The single mother, who sneaked over the border last year, heavily pregnant and desperate to find a job, says she left Zimbabwe because she had no food, no money and no job.

Now she fears her month-old babies will starve if she's forced to take them home when she leaves Vredendal on the West Coast.

In broken English, Chipo Chiramba begged for someone to take in her children, born in South Africa on December 14. "I need help to let them stay," she said.

Chiramba has three other children staying with her mother in Zimbabwe.

As her deportation looms, she and the babies are being cared for by Heavenly Promise, a welfare organisation that assists vulnerable children and poor communities.

Of her decision to cross the border illegally, Chiramba said she did so out of desperation after being abandoned by the father of her triplets.

"I love my babies, but I need to leave them here. I'll go back to Zimbabwe and get the right papers to come back. But I cannot take them back to a life of poverty."

Meanwhile, the Vredendal community have opened their hearts to the plight of the triplets, donating baby food and other necessities.