Durban — A 35-year-old nanny is expected to appear in the Durban Magistrate’s Court on Monday after she was arrested in Empangeni for allegedly stealing a nine-month-old baby, KwaZulu-Natal police said.
According to police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Paul Magwaza, the child’s mother returned to her Durban home on Saturday afternoon and discovered that both the nanny and her baby were missing.
“The mother of a 9-month-old child returned home in the afternoon on Saturday, 27 September 2025, and realized that the nanny and her son were not in the house,” Magwaza said.
“She contacted the nanny asking of her whereabouts as she had not consented to the child being taken anywhere outside the house. The nanny informed the mother of the child that she was somewhere at Empangeni but could not provide a reasonable explanation why she had left and taken the child with her.
“Further communication between the mother and the nanny suggested that the mother needed to go alone to Empangeni to fetch her child
The case was reported to the Durban Central Police Station, and specialised units were mobilised to trace the suspect.
In the early hours of Sunday morning, police conducted an operation in Empangeni where the woman was arrested and the child recovered unharmed. The baby has since been taken for a precautionary medical examination.
Magwaza said investigations revealed that the suspect had allegedly told her boyfriend that the baby was theirs and had been receiving R2 500 a month from him to care for the child.
The woman will face a charge of child theft when she appears in court on Monday.
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
