The infant was kidnapped on Friday from the Mamelodi west clinic on Friday and was found on Sunday night.
Pretoria – Tshegofatso Nyambiri is reunited with her parents.
The infant was found by a couple on Sunday evening next to the University of Pretoria’s Mamelodi campus.
He was kidnapped from the Mamelodi west clinic on Friday.
The infant was found on Sunday night around 11pm and taken to Mamelodi East police station.
Police then called the parents around 1pm and they rushed there.
Tshegofatso Nyambiri is reunited with her parents Dipuo and Marcus. Video: Sakhile Ndlazi
“I didn’t need any DNA test, I immediately saw it was my baby. I immediately felt all that weight being lifted off my shoulders,” said Tshegofatso’s mother Dipuo, who was close to tears while holding the child close.
She said on Friday at the Mamelodi west clinic a stranger pretended to want to play with him and whisked him away.
Her dad Marcus said subsequent to that they received numerous calls from a man who sounded to be of Nigerian nationality demanding a randsom of R2 000.
But Marcus managed to bring him down to R1000.
“He called on Saturday around 2pm to around 6pm saying: do you want your baby or not ?” he said.
“He wanted them to e-wallet the money or send it from a Spar,” Marcus said.
He then informed police and resisted paying.
Meanwhile Liam Ngobeni reports that the DA has called for the establishment of a provincial specialised unit to deal with cases of kidnapping.
Gauteng leader and spokesperson for community safety in the legislature John Moodey said the party was deeply concerned about the escalating number of kidnapping incidents in the country.
“According to reports, there are kidnapping syndicates that are targeting wealthy families and foreign nationals,” he said, adding that there were also claims that these syndicates were working with the police.
Moodey said this was worrying, particularly for Gauteng, which had recorded the highest number of kidnapping cases in the country.
According to the 2018/19 crime stats, Gauteng remained the highest, with 2109 cases reported.
Moodey said the DA called for the SA Police Service to be professionalised, removal of “corrupt” police officers from the system and equipping the police with adequate resources to fight crime.
He called on the Community Safety MEC Faith Mazibuko and the Gauteng police commissioner Lieutenant-General Elias Mawela to liaise with the Police Minister Bheki Cele to investigate claims of the police colluding with the kidnapping syndicates.
Police district commissioner in Tshwane Major-General Daniel Mthombeni said kidnappings of all sorts were a priority and they were being dealt with.
Pretoria News
