#BringBackDurbanBaby - social media unites the country
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#BringBackDurbanBaby - social media unites the country

Updated | By Verlie Oosthuizen

Another week, another trending hashtag... last Friday the horrifying story of a baby being abducted during a hijacking spread across the country in wildfire fashion. 

Missing baby Siwaphiwe
For the whole weekend, the public scoured social media and vented their frustrations and sadness about the awful story of Baby Siwaphiwe who had allegedly been strapped in the car whilst a hijacking had taken place in Greyville Durban and separated from her mother and brother when they had been allowed to get out of the car.  The story was literally every mother’s worst nightmare realised.


Two days later the baby was found when the police discovered her in a roadblock (set up for the purpose) at the Marianhill Toll Plaza and the story took a bizarre turn.  Sorrow on social media turned into rage as people discovered that they had been duped and the hijacking had been staged.

It is in situations such as these that the full gamut of human emotions are seen on social media however people need to be aware that however strongly they feel about a situation it cannot be a justification to incite mob violence or retribution. 

Read: The love for #BabySiwaphiwe united KZN

One social media user posted a picture of a person holding two machine guns saying “where is the mother”. 

One positive to come out of this awful story is how quickly the South African united in their calls to find Baby Siwaphiwe from all sectors of society.  We should not need a tragedy like this to be a catalyst for harmony.

Verlie Oosthuizen

Shepstone & Wylie Social Media Law Department

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