Durban – A SPAR employee who was charged with the kidnapping of an 8-month-old baby has made his first appearance in court.
Mduduzi Godfrey Thobela appeared in the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court, in Johannesburg, on August 23.
National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Phindi Louw said Thobela was released on bail.
The case was adjourned to next month.
The incident took place a week ago, on August 21, at the Meyersdal Superspar in Alberton.
CCTV footage of the incident has gone viral on social media.
In the two-minute video, the mother and child are seen shopping.
The mother places her baby in the trolley as she opens the freezer to look for items.
A man wearing a plastic apron walks past and picks the baby up and walks away.
The mother suddenly realises the baby has disappeared, she turns around the finds the man trying to walk off with the baby.
She grabs the infant from the man.
He then begins talking to the mother and she holds on to her baby.
In a Facebook post, the mother cautioned other parents to be wary.
She said when she confronted the man about why he had picked up her daughter he said she had her hands up.
“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.”
The woman said she became hysterical, abandoned her trolley and reported the incident to management.
A spokesperson for SPAR said: “The SPAR Group Limited received a report of an attempted baby snatching at the independently owned Meyersdal Superspar on Sunday, August 21, 2022.
“SPAR is extremely relieved that the attempt was foiled and that the store owner along with the store management took the decision to immediately suspend a staff member as a result of this incident and will take further action based on the results of the ongoing investigation.
“The staff member in question was arrested by the police and the store is assisting the police with their investigation by providing CCTV footage. It is not clear at this stage whether there were other persons involved and should it be revealed that any of the store’s employees are involved, the appropriate action will be taken.”
Kerry Becker, of the SPAR Group, said SPAR had reached out to the family involved and were providing them with support for counselling and legal representation.
“SPAR adopts a zero-tolerance approached to crime and will ensure that the strongest possible consequences follow attempts to commit crimes in any of the SPAR stores.”
IOL