Pertunia Ratsatsi

Pertunia Ratsatsi

There was jubilation yesterday after a two-week-old baby; stolen at Mamelodi Hospital, was reunited with his mother.

Siyamthanda Pulwana was stolen from his mother Phumeza, 19, on Friday. The family could not hold back tears of joy when Sowetan visited their home yesterday.

Holding her baby tightly, Pulwana said she had gone to the hospital to register her baby when she was approached by an unknown woman.

"The woman said I looked familiar. I walked with her to the registration office, where I met a man who told me that I was not allowed to bring a child inside the office.

"I then asked the woman to hold the baby for me because she seemed nice and decent. After the registration I gave her a plastic bag that contained the baby's clothes and birth certificate and went to the tuck shop. When I returned the woman was gone with my baby," she said.

Everybody began searching for the missing woman while Pulwana went to the Mamelodi East police station where she reported her baby missing.

"The woman came to our house yesterday morning. She gave my baby to a five-year-old child who was playing outside and disappeared," said Pulwana.

The woman was arrested at her house in Mamelodi after her father, Enoch Phiri, alerted the police.

Phiri said he suspected that his daughter was lying about the baby belonging to her because she could not breastfeed him when he was crying. The woman was charged with child stealing and she is expected to appear in the Mamelodi magistrate's court soon.