Baby snatcher trend alert: Fake caregivers make off with Mpumalanga infant

Following the kidnapping of a Mpumalanga baby, mothers of infants have been urged to refrain from placing undue trust in strangers, particularly women who claim affiliation with medical institutions or government authorities.

Four-month-old Lalicia Magumbu was literally taken from her mother’s arms in the Mpumalanga town of Kriel by two women who posed as “volunteer caregivers” this week.

The distraught mother of the infant is now appealing to the public to help her find her baby girl.

ALSO READ: One-month-old allegedly kidnapped in Small Farms

Women disappear with baby after promise of food donation

Police spokesperson Brigadier Selvy Mohlala told the media that the women reportedly visited Baby Lalicia’s mother at her Thubelihle residence near Kriel, assuring her of a food donation for the baby.

They, however, insisted on taking the child to the clinic for immunization as a prerequisite before finalising the food donation.

“The women took the child at around 9am and thereafter did not return with the child. According to the family, the baby was wearing a pink baby grow,” Mohlala said.

ALSO READ: Kingsway mom desperate to find kidnapped baby

More cases of baby snatchers reported in SA

Lalicia’s mother has allegedly not been the only parent who has been deceived this year into surrendering her child, only to never be reunited with their cherished bundle of joy.

In September this year, Brilliant Museba, a Zimbabwean national residing in Kingsway, Gauteng, fell victim to a comparable modus operandi, resulting in the similar abduction of her four-month-old daughter, Desire.

Museba told the media how she was approached by two women who claimed to be auxiliary nurses and offered her a job.

As a single, unemployed mother, she accepted.

Museba explained that after getting familiar with her, the women suggested she seek financial aid from Far East Rand Hospital and offered to help her. However, while helping her, they managed to vanish with her baby.

Just a month prior to this, one-month-old Keabetswe Mabaso was allegedly taken from her home in Evaton, in Gauteng, on Friday, 25 August.

Mothers urged to be vigilant of impersonators

According to reports, the baby was reportedly taken by a woman who visited the mother’s residence, claiming to be affiliated with the Department of Social Development (DSD) through an organisation called Mother and Child Development, which operates in Orange Farm.

The mother, Mapuleng Mabaso, said that the woman claimed she was going to assist them with food parcels and that they were going to be delivered.

Mabaso said the woman was with her as they waited for the delivery of the food parcel, and she had handed her child to the woman while she went to the bathroom. When she returned, she said that the woman and her baby were nowhere to be found.

Mohlala has warned mothers of infants to be more vigilant when it comes to their babies and not just trust people on face value.