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Miracle baby's mom‚ granny have not been arrested‚ say cops

Durban emergency personnel worked furiously to rescue a newborn baby from a storm water drain in Newlands East this week. She was rescued and stabilised on the scene before being airlifted to hospital.
Durban emergency personnel worked furiously to rescue a newborn baby from a storm water drain in Newlands East this week. She was rescued and stabilised on the scene before being airlifted to hospital.
Image: Jackie Clausen

Police have slammed as false news allegations circulating on social media about the arrest of two women in connection with an infant who was on Monday dumped in a stormwater drain in Newlands East‚ north of Durban.

Following a four-hour miraculous rescue of the trapped baby‚ a picture of two women‚ labelled as the baby's mother and grandmother‚ started doing the rounds on social media on Wednesday.

"There is no arrest in the Newlands attempted murder where a newborn child was found. News that is circulating is not true‚" said KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson Col Thembeka Mbele.

One Facebook user who had shared the picture about the arrests in connection with the baby‚ quickly changed her post after being called out for sharing fake news.

"I just shared your information (about the post being fake) on my post … Thanks for the info that it is untrue. Started hating people I don’t know‚" wrote Rae Nassiep.

A Newlands East community safety group also warned residents to stop sharing the fake-news post.

"We urge the community to stop circulating these pictures with false accusations‚" the community safety group posted.

Meanwhile‚ the baby‚ who has been unofficially named "Sibanisethu" (Our Light) by residents of the neighbourhood where she was found‚ is doing well.

This is according to KZN Health MEC Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo‚ who received a briefing from the Durban hospital where the baby was being cared for on Thursday.

Once she is discharged she will be taken to a place of safety‚ under the auspices of the KZN department of social development.

The baby‚ who has been dubbed a miracle baby‚ was treated for mild hypothermia at the Chief Albert Luthuli hospital on Tuesday before being transferred to Addington hospital.

A rescue team in Durban worked frantically to rescue a newborn baby that had been thrown into a storm water drain on February 2 2019. The infant girl was safely removed, stabilised and airlifted to Albert Luthuli hospital. Read full story here: https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2019-02-11-emergency-workers-in-storm-water-drain-baby-rescue-drama/

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