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- A two-month-old baby was taken from his home by unknown men at the weekend.
- The incident is said to be linked to a drunken brawl.
- The parents of the missing baby have called on anyone with information to reach out to the police.
"I cannot sleep. I cannot eat properly, I am utterly devastated," Zinhle Mdletshe told News24 as she looked at pictures of her missing two-month-old baby.
The 30-year-old mom, from the Welbedacht area of Chatsworth, Durban, is desperately seeking to be reunited with her baby, Lwazi, after he was forcefully taken from her by unknown men on Saturday.
The mother of three said they heard a loud knock on the door, at around 02:00, but decided to ignore it.
However, when the banging on the door got louder and the men threatened to kick the door down, her 32-year-old brother, Johnny, opened the door.
Mdletshe said two men "aggressively" entered their home. They said they were with her nephew at a local tavern and that he had stolen liquor from them, so they "demanded compensation".
"I told them that we had nothing to do with drunken brawls. I asked them why they hadn't gone to report my nephew directly to his mother," she said.
"They claimed that they had already visited my sister and she had informed them that my nephew was with us."
Mdletshe said CCTV footage from the tavern would later prove that her nephew was never there.
"We, in fact, later found out that he had been sleeping at another relative's house," she said.
She said the men refused to reason with her and Johnny.
"One of them pulled out a gun and held us hostage for over 20 minutes, while the other searched our home, saying he was looking for a way to hurt my nephew."
She said, in the end, the men took her baby and her cellphone, but "left other valuable items, such as the microwave and fridge".
She said her world had been turned upside down since losing her child.
"I keep on asking myself why anyone would do this to me. I have never hurt anyone in life. I am poor, unemployed and have nothing to my name. I just want my baby back," Mdletshe told News24.
Mdletshe was speaking from a relative's home, saying that she was yet to summon the strength to go back to a place where she had "experienced the greatest trauma" of her life.
Not far from that home, Sifiso Duma, 45, the father of baby Lwazi, stood near a local tuckshop container.
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He said he was at his own home when the incident occurred.
"Lwazi is my one and only child, I need to have him back.
"He is just two months' old. I don't know what he is eating. I don't know if his nappies are being changed, I am devastated," he said.
Welbedacht community
The area of Welbedacht sits on the periphery of Chatsworth and shares a border with the nearby Umlazi township.
Unlike the greater Chatsworth area, which is dominated by South Africans of Indian descent, the majority of people in Welbedacht are black African.
Most of the residents live in state-sponsored, low-cost houses, with one-lane roads in a densely populated community.
"Crime and violence have always been rife here. Neighbours have often woken up to find that their cars had been stripped of tyres and other items, while some have woken up to no cars at all, after they were stolen," said Lindeni Ndlovu, 59, a neighbour to the Mdletshe and Duma families.
She said she was extremely fond of baby Lwazi and condemned his "abduction", saying that it had "taken the criminality in Welbedacht to a whole new level".
"We are not used to these kinds of incidents," she said.
She said that, because of the incident, the community was discussing the possibility of establishing its own policing forum.
In the meantime, the police said the search for the baby was continuing.
Police spokesperson Robert Netshiunda urged anyone with information to contact Captain Mthembu on 082 567 4188, or alternatively to call Crime Stop on 08600 10111.
He also said tip-offs could be submitted via the My SAPS app.
