Durban - The woman said to be the co-ordinator between alleged baby sellers and a couple who were “adopting” a 6-month-old baby could not be found, a police investigator said.
She was chased from her home by her community who feared their children would be “stolen” too.
This was the evidence led on Thursday before Pinetown Regional Court magistrate Kosi Hadebe in the trial involving Tazley Msweli and Sibongile Ndimande.
Both women are accused of duping a mother into believing one of them was a social worker.
It is alleged the baby was kidnapped while the mother left him with the women to buy food for her 2-year-old.
The child was missing for five months.
In this time, it is alleged, he was sold to a couple, the Ramlutchmans, for R2 500 and an air conditioner.
Investigating Detective Sergeant Bongi Zondo on Thursday testified she had tried everything possible to find the alleged fixer, Thembi Cele, but she was told by the community that Cele had fled.
State advocate, Val Dafel, called Rajendra Ramlutchman to the witness box on Thursday. He said Cele was their domestic worker. She had told his wife about a friend, Msweli, who worked at Addington Hospital as a social worker.
Cele apparently told them Msweli was trying to find homes for abandoned children. In October 2014, she told them the friend had a child for them to fetch.
Ramlutchman said Cele communicated directly with Msweli and relayed the information to them.
Cele told them the whole adoption would cost them R5 000.
The couple raised R2 500.
He said he gave Msweli and Ndimande a portable air conditioner to cover the remaining amount.
The couple and Cele waited outside The Wheel shopping centre on October 29, 2014, where they met Msweli, Ndimande and their new baby.
Ramlutchman conceded they did not go through the proper legal adoption procedures. He said this route was costly and took a long time.
Msweli’s lawyer, advocate Veryan Reding, said her client never personally received money for the baby and was just reimbursed for travelling expenses.
Ramlutchman disagreed, saying they were paid R2 500 the day they brought the baby.
Reding suggested his wife could have given the money to Cele who may have just given the woman travelling money.
Ndimande’s Legal Aid attorney, Phillip Dlamini, said his client denied receiving anything.
Ramlutchman disagreed. The trial continues.
Daily News