Joy as mom is reunited with missing baby boy

It was tears of joy for the Nyambiri family when they were reunited with their three-month-old baby boy Tshegofatsho in the early hours of Sunday.

The baby was found by a couple who heard him crying at the University of Pretoria's Mamelodi campus.

Baby Tshegofatsho was allegedly kidnapped on Friday afternoon by an unknown woman who had befriended his mother at the Mamelodi West Clinic.

The parents told Sowetan they could not eat or sleep without knowing the whereabouts of their baby.

"I'm very happy to be reunited with my baby boy who is unharmed and healthy and I can't believe I'm holding him in my arms again," said a visibly happy Dipuo Nyambiri.

Gauteng provincial police spokesperson Capt Mavela Masondo said the baby was found by the couple after he was dumped next to the Pretoria University's Mamelodi campus. The couple took the baby to the nearest police station where he was positively identified by the parents.

The child was taken to medical practitioners for a checkup and was found healthy and unharmed.

Nyambiri, 35, relived the day Tshegofatsho was stolen. She said she arrived at the clinic at around 9am for child vaccine and she sat near a woman on the bench. After a few minutes, the woman started becoming very friendly with her and talked about the coronavirus outbreak.

"She started giving me compliments about my baby, telling me how beautiful my baby boy is and she asked to hold him and I gave her the baby," said Nyambiri.

The mother said she soon lost sight of the woman who was holding her baby in a packed clinic.

The woman mysteriously disappeared with her baby and she couldn't find her.

Tshegofatso's father Marcus Mamabolo, 42, said he was excited that his baby was back home and thanked the public for assisting in finding his son.