Mom caught trying to sell baby on Gumtree

Spokesperson Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi says she was arrested in Pietermaritzburg after an undercover agent arranged to buy the 19-month-old baby from her.

The child was handed to a social worker and the R5 000 was recovered. 

The woman was expected to appear in the Pietermaritzburg Magistrate's Court on Friday. 

She would face charges of human trafficking.

Mulaudzi says an investigation into the role the classified adverts site played in the matter was under way.

See the advert below:

Weeping in the arms of a social worker, a 19-month-old toddler watched as his Imbali mother was arrested at the KFC in Chief Albert Luthuli Road.

A tip-off from a Gumtree user led to a sting operation that led to the woman’s arrest.

PMB police spokesperson Constable Mthokozisi Ngobese said a female officer was tasked to contact the mother on Saturday and set up the deal.

Trap

Ngobese said the trap was set by officers in the Organised Crime Unit in conjunction with members of the Local Record Criminal Centre (LCRC), the police’s radio control unit, the Department of Social Development workers and himself.

With the fee and the location of the exchange finalised, the mother, who had not even met the woman she was about to hawk her child to, walked her baby boy to the KFC outlet before midday on Thursday.

While police in casual clothing kept watch, the mother met two undercover officers on the top floor of the building.

The officers bought ice cream for the mother and began negotiations while seated at a table in the fast-food outlet.

Ngobese said the mother explained that she was selling her child because his father would not offer any financial support, leaving her unable to raise the boy.

“She was anxious to get the money,” Ngobese said, describing the negotiation.

Police handed over R5 000 in duplicated notes to the mother as she said her final goodbyes to the child.

Police pounced as she exited the building, money and ice cream in hand.

The woman was arrested for contravening the Human Trafficking Act.

She stood against a wall, eating her ice cream, as the police questioned her before she was driven away in an unmarked vehicle.

Tears

When the social worker exited with the toddler in her arms, the boy had a slow stream of tears on his face.

It is unclear whether the boy will be placed in the care of the department or returned to family members.

Previous attempts

Gumtree spokesperson Estelle Nagel said the advert was removed and the user blocked immediately after it was flagged.

“We have keywords that if they are entered in an advert, it will trigger a warning and go for moderation before it goes live,” she said.

“She did not use any of the keywords, but the community was very quick in reporting it to us and we removed it, blocked her, tracked her IP address and reported her to Childline.”

Nagel said the woman had made two previous attempts to “sell” her child, once when she advertised a car seat but mentioned she wanted to sell her child too.

She said Gumtree was already working on new key words to flag such adverts.

(Screengrab)