A new-born KwaZulu-Natal baby girl was stolen at the weekend while her mother went to buy shoes, police said on Monday.
Police spokesperson Captain Jabulani Mdletshe said Lindiwe Mngomezulu gave birth at Hlabisa Hospital on Friday and was returning home the same day when the baby was stolen.
"The mother met a friendly woman in a taxi who offered to take care of her baby while she went into a Pep store to buy shoes," Mdletshe said.
The mother left her baby and her belongings with the stranger but when she returned to the taxi the woman was gone.
"She looked everywhere for the woman but she could not be found," he added.
Mdletshe said police had opened a child-stealing case but no arrests have yet been made.
The baby was only 17 hour old. - Sapa