SIBONGILE Mbambo was sentenced to five years in jail for fraud and defeating the ends of justice for her role in the hoax kidnapping of her then one-month-old child at the Durban Regional Court yesterday.
The alleged abduction made headlines in March last year as KwaZulu-Natal united to assist in the frantic search for the baby.
The mother, at the time, claimed that the baby had been kidnapped when she was hijacked at a Durban mall on 10 March 2017.
ALSO READ: Baby Siwaphiwe’s mom and accomplice appear in Durban court
Two days later, in a twist of events, police were tipped off about the baby being in a vehicle which was headed towards the Mariannhill Toll Plaza.
Police swiftly set up a roadblock in the early hours of Sunday morning, and arrested two people, Mbambo and a man.
Further investigations revealed that Mbambo staged the kidnapping to hide her extra-marital affair with the man who was arrested with her.
It was revealed in court yesterday that the faked abduction of the baby had been carefully planned to hide Mbambo’s extra-marital affair‚ with Siwaphiwe’s biological father, Phumlani Mbokazi.
It was said that Mbambo arranged to give the baby away to live in secret with the relatives of Mbokazi.
Magistrate Anand Maharaj addressed social workers to conduct an immediate assessment of the living situation of the baby and Mbambo’s three other children – who will remain in their father’s custody while Mbambo served her sentence.
ALSO READ: JUST IN: Baby Siwaphiwe’s mother arrested
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