Mom of abducted Khayelitsha twin says 'Good Samaritan' turned out to be a monster

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Cape Town - “It happened so fast, I went inside a shop to buy food and in a blink of an eye my baby was gone. A woman whom I thought was a Good Samaritan turned out to be a monster.” These were the words of a 29-year-old Asanda Tiwane from Khayelitsha after one of her two-months-old twins, Kwahlelwa Tiwane, was kidnapped in Parow on Thursday by a woman only known as Monica and who pretended to be a social worker. The mother now fears for the life of her child. Tiwane, an unemployed mother of three said that the woman first visited the family on Friday, January 10, promising to assist them with food hampers and a R1000 voucher. “I never suspected anything because she had visited other families and came to us more than three times before the incident, including the other day where we went to Mitchells Plain to do an affidavit which we later did not but instead made copies of the babies documents,” she said. On the day of the snatching, Tiwane said the woman called in the morning informing her that she was going to be late and on her arrival later in the morning took a taxi to Parow, where they were to receive the voucher. She carried one of the twins.

At Parow, Tiwane said the woman told her to get something to eat at a nearby food outlet and that she was going into the post office with one of the twins, “where her office was”.

“I called her twice and after not picking up I panicked. After some time she sent an SMS saying I should go back home, she will keep the baby until our situation at home has improved and I never heard from her again,” Tiwane said.

Police spokesperson Andrè Traut said a case of kidnapping was under investigation. “The circumstances surrounding the kidnapping of the child are being investigated and the assistance of the public will be appreciated so that the mother can be reunited with her child,” he said.

Missing Children South Africa national co-ordinator Bianca van Aswegen said children that go missing was a big concern, and the number was alarming.

“Children get kidnapped for various reasons such as ransom demands, traditional medicine (muti), human-trafficking purposes and also family abductions,” she said.

“People are still under the impression that they have to wait 24 hours before reporting a child or person as missing. There is no waiting period at all to open a missing person’s case,” Van Aswegen added.

Ward councillor Xolisa Ngwekazi said this was the first incident of this nature reported to his office and advised parents to be vigilant.

“Parents must be careful of who they let in their houses and must ensure that when a person says they’re from government departments and have doubts about it call me or my office to inquire about them,” he said.

Anyone who can assist with the investigation can contact Detective Joy Sumsodien on 082 522 1095 or contact Crime Stop on 086 001 0111.

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Cape Argus