Baby stolen from ward
26 July 2009, 10:13
By Lynnette Johns, Leila Samodien and Vuyo Mabandla
A two-week-old baby boy has been snatched from the maternity ward at Tygerberg Hospital, where his mother is lying in a coma, unaware her first-born son is missing.
On Saturday night the baby's father, Vuyisa Ngqada, 25, who works for Checkers in Sea Point, issued an impassioned plea for the return of his unnamed son.
Ngqada said: "People must please pray for us, and those who love the Xhosa culture must pray for us to the ancestors because we are desperate. I can't believe anyone would do this to an innocent child."
It is not clear why the baby's mother, Zimkhitha Ncumani, 21, of Delft, is in a coma.
On Saturday night police and nursing staff were viewing video footage taken from cameras over the hospital exits in an attempt to identify the culprit.
Night medical superintendent Dr Richard Muller said the baby had disappeared from his bassinet between 8.30pm and 9.30pm on Friday after visiting hours, which are 7pm to 8pm.
He told Weekend Argus: "It's all very dark at the moment."
The first the family knew of the baby's disappearance was when the police contacted Zimkhitha's mother, Thobeka Ncumani, at about 2.30am on Saturday.
The tearful grandmother said on Saturday night: "It is a terrible thing to go through. Not only is my daughter ill but the baby has been stolen. We just want him back."
The baby is her first grandchild, while Ngqada has a three-year-old son in the Eastern Cape.
Both Thobeka and Ngqada said they could think of no reason why someone would want to hurt their family.
Provincial Health Department spokesman Mark van der Heever said they suspected the baby was kidnapped during the visiting hour between 7pm and 8pm.
Police, however, said the infant was kidnapped around 8.30pm.
Van Der Heever said: "People do have access to the ward during the visiting times. It looks like someone masqueraded as a visitor and took the baby."
Van der Heever acknowledged that babies in the maternity ward were left alone in their rooms for minutes at a time, even during visiting hours, although the pre- and post-natal wards were constantly monitored by nurses and security guards, who did regular rounds.
There were five- to 10-minute intervals between the times that nurses and security guards checked each room.
Each baby room in the ward holds two or more infants sleeping in bassinets beside their mothers. The missing baby had been in a room with one other baby.
"There are a number of security measures. Visitors are required to sign in, but in the case of the post-natal section, visitors can still get in if they happen to get or make up a name of an actual patient in the ward."
He said that besides the police investigation, hospital security and management were also looking into what could have gone wrong.
When Weekend Argus visited J2 maternity ward last night, the team was buzzed in with the police and family, but found that to leave the ward all they had to do was press a button on the door.
A fellow patient, Nokuthula Limba, 25, whose son Mihlali was born on July 19, said she had heard about a baby being stolen and she was too scared even to go to the toilet.
"I'm worried about my baby's safety," she said.
The missing baby was born on July 14 at Tygerberg. His mother was discharged soon afterwards, but the hospital kept the baby until July 17 when Ncumani was due to collect him.
But when she returned she fell ill and was admitted.
Shortly after she went into a coma.
Van der Heever said the hospital's internal investigation would consider whether to review the the security system's effectiveness.
A two-week-old baby boy has been snatched from the maternity ward at Tygerberg Hospital, where his mother is lying in a coma, unaware her first-born son is missing.
On Saturday night the baby's father, Vuyisa Ngqada, 25, who works for Checkers in Sea Point, issued an impassioned plea for the return of his unnamed son.
Ngqada said: "People must please pray for us, and those who love the Xhosa culture must pray for us to the ancestors because we are desperate. I can't believe anyone would do this to an innocent child."
It is not clear why the baby's mother, Zimkhitha Ncumani, 21, of Delft, is in a coma.
On Saturday night police and nursing staff were viewing video footage taken from cameras over the hospital exits in an attempt to identify the culprit.
Night medical superintendent Dr Richard Muller said the baby had disappeared from his bassinet between 8.30pm and 9.30pm on Friday after visiting hours, which are 7pm to 8pm.
He told Weekend Argus: "It's all very dark at the moment."
The first the family knew of the baby's disappearance was when the police contacted Zimkhitha's mother, Thobeka Ncumani, at about 2.30am on Saturday.
The tearful grandmother said on Saturday night: "It is a terrible thing to go through. Not only is my daughter ill but the baby has been stolen. We just want him back."
The baby is her first grandchild, while Ngqada has a three-year-old son in the Eastern Cape.
Both Thobeka and Ngqada said they could think of no reason why someone would want to hurt their family.
Provincial Health Department spokesman Mark van der Heever said they suspected the baby was kidnapped during the visiting hour between 7pm and 8pm.
Police, however, said the infant was kidnapped around 8.30pm.
Van Der Heever said: "People do have access to the ward during the visiting times. It looks like someone masqueraded as a visitor and took the baby."
Van der Heever acknowledged that babies in the maternity ward were left alone in their rooms for minutes at a time, even during visiting hours, although the pre- and post-natal wards were constantly monitored by nurses and security guards, who did regular rounds.
There were five- to 10-minute intervals between the times that nurses and security guards checked each room.
Each baby room in the ward holds two or more infants sleeping in bassinets beside their mothers. The missing baby had been in a room with one other baby.
"There are a number of security measures. Visitors are required to sign in, but in the case of the post-natal section, visitors can still get in if they happen to get or make up a name of an actual patient in the ward."
He said that besides the police investigation, hospital security and management were also looking into what could have gone wrong.
When Weekend Argus visited J2 maternity ward last night, the team was buzzed in with the police and family, but found that to leave the ward all they had to do was press a button on the door.
A fellow patient, Nokuthula Limba, 25, whose son Mihlali was born on July 19, said she had heard about a baby being stolen and she was too scared even to go to the toilet.
"I'm worried about my baby's safety," she said.
The missing baby was born on July 14 at Tygerberg. His mother was discharged soon afterwards, but the hospital kept the baby until July 17 when Ncumani was due to collect him.
But when she returned she fell ill and was admitted.
Shortly after she went into a coma.
Van der Heever said the hospital's internal investigation would consider whether to review the the security system's effectiveness.
- This article was originally published on page 1 of The Cape Argus on July 26, 2009
Pretoria
