WATCH: Attempted kidnapping or plain stupidity? Mom accuses SPAR employee of snatching her baby

A staff member at the Meyersdal SUPERSPAR in Gauteng has been suspended after he took an eight-month-old baby from a mother’s shopping trolley on Sunday.

CCTV footage shows the man approaching the trolley and casually picking up the baby while the mother is trying to get meat from one of the store’s fridges.

The mother then turns around and realises her daughter is no longer in the cart. She immediately spots the man with her baby and runs after him.

After being reunited with her child, the mother can be seen screaming at the employee while he tries to explain his actions.

“While we are extremely relieved that a reported case of attempted baby snatching at the independently-owned Meyersdal SUPERSPAR was foiled on Sunday, we confirm the store’s owner along with store management took the decision to immediately suspend one staff member as a result of the incident and will take further action based on the results of an ongoing investigation,” said SPAR spokesperson Kerry Becker.

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SPAR also confirmed that the staff member was arrested by the police.

“The SPAR Group is also reaching out to the family to offer any support they need, including counselling,” said Becker.

“At this stage, it is not yet clear how many people may have been involved.”

In a now deleted post on Facebook, the mother describes the horror she felt when she realised her daughter was no longer in the shopping trolley.

“I look up, and she’s gone. I immediately look for her and find her in the arms of this man. I’m able to grab her from him and say, what is he doing with my daughter? Why does he have her?” she wrote.

“He is smiling and laughing, telling me he walked past the trolley and my daughter’s arms were up, so he picked her up. I am frozen and confused. Why is he laughing? Behind me is another staff member – also laughing. I keep saying this is not funny. You don’t touch a child, you don’t take a child. This isn’t a joke, and I don’t find it amusing.”

Later in the mother’s post, she tells how the store’s manager said he spoke to the employee and “advised he didn’t mean any harm”.

Warrant Officer Gerhard Cornelius from Brackendowns Saps confirmed to Alberton Record that a 43-year-old man was arrested on August 22 for attempted kidnapping.

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