Bona Terra Cafe, a popular eatery in Hillcrest, has given a Durban mother until close of business on Wednesday to apologise for posting on social media her child was almost kidnapped from their establishment on Saturday. 

The restaurant said the child was picked up by a nanny who was a part of the “celebrity group”.

Bona Terra Cafe did not name the celebrity and denied the mother's allegations.

In her Facebook post, which has since been removed, the mother said her two-year-old son was standing a few metres away from their table with his cousin and was looking in their direction.

“An unknown woman approached him from behind, put her hands over his eyes and picked him up. She did not make eye contact with him as she was behind him, and she then proceeded to walk away with him. Fortunately for my son, this was all happening right in front of us. I jumped up and grabbed him from her clutches. She resisted at first but then let go of him. I yelled at her and all she could say was sorry.

“Not knowing what to do, I went looking for the manager to call the police, but on my way I noticed the woman sitting at a table with other patrons. I stopped and asked her what her motive was. Again, she just said sorry and started crying.

“One of the patrons at her table started screaming at me and called for the waiters to remove me from the cafe. He asked them what kind of human being makes another person cry. Well, I’m a human being who just experienced one of the worst fears that a mother can have — her child was being taken away by a stranger right in front of her eyes,” the woman said.

The owners and management of Bona Terra Cafe said the allegations were “completely false and have been distorted beyond recognition”.

“The person who placed their hand over the child's eyes was a childminder who works for a celebrity and was part of a group that had been playing with the children for some time before this incident occurred. Our staff were aware of this and knew that the childminder was with the celebrity group.

“Unfortunately, the customer who made these false allegations immediately started screaming and making a scene without listening to the facts. It was only after someone from her table noticed that the supposed kidnapper was sitting with other customers that the misunderstanding was cleared up. The other customers even apologised to the complainant three times for the misunderstanding.”

The official response was met with mixed reaction on social media with many saying they would continue to support the establishment while others were shocked the restaurant was protecting a “celebrity's nanny”.

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