All the family wants is to know where baby is.
Cape Town – The family of three-month-old Kwahlelwa Tiwane will tomorrow come face to face with an 18-year-old matric pupil arrested for allegedly being involved in the infant’s abduction.
The teen is expected to appear in the Bellville Magistrate’s Court.
Police spokesperson Noloyiso Rwexana said they had questioned a suspect, but no charges had yet been laid.
“The person is appearing in court on Thursday. However, I cannot call them a suspect yet because our investigation is ongoing and the person is not arrested, but taken in for questioning.
“As a result of an ongoing investigation, SAPS detectives are questioning
someone. Due to the sensitive nature
of this investigation, this office is not
able to divulge more information,”
Rwexana said.
The family said they were shocked
to learn that the person appearing in
court was a teenager.
They have pleaded that she tell
them where their baby is.
Khwahlelwa’s mother, Asanda, said
the woman approached her at their
home last week, offering assistance
with social grants and food vouchers.
She lured Asanda to a fake office in
Parow, and this was the last time she
saw the woman with her baby.
The baby’s father, Siyanda Thugani,
said all they wanted was for her to say
where the child is.
“She won’t give us full information.
She tells her lawyer everything, but he
is asking for bail because she is under
age.
“He is saying she should be given
bail because she is still at school. We
don’t want anything but our child,”
he said.
The incident has left other mothers
in the area feeling scared and uneasy,
as they said it could have been they
who lost a child this way.
Nomasomi Feni said the woman
had identified herself as Monica from
Site B in Khayelitsha, and said she
registered people for food vouchers.
She also gave people R1 000 in
vouchers and groceries and assisted
with birth certificates, Feni said.
“When she came, I was busy doing
the washing and I let her hold my baby
while she spoke. I was comfortable
around her.
“I was very shocked to hear that
she took the baby. She named two
organisations that she worked for, so
we had no reason to think she was
lying,” Feni said.
She said after they heard that she
was implicated in the abduction, they
tried to call her but she did not answer.
“I am so hurt; she left us feeling
scared. We would usually leave our
kids when we go to the toilet, for
instance. But now I lock up and leave.”
Ward councillor Xolisa Ngwekazi
said he was assisting the family as best
he could.
“The problem now is, the community will trust no one coming with
assistance because of the precedent
that was set. It will make my work as
a councillor more difficult.
“Every time
someone wants to visit a family, I will
have to stop everything I am doing to
be there because they are scared.”
Cape Times
