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- The search for a 2-month-old baby taken during an attack on a Durban family has been fraught with difficulties.
- The KwaZulu-Natal policing forum says there has been "poor cooperation" between police and the Welbedacht community.
- At the same time, the DA says the incident points to the failure of the country's Crime Intelligence structures.
The KwaZulu-Natal policing forum says it's concerned about the apparent "poor cooperation" between the Welbedacht community in Chatsworth, Durban and the police during the search for a missing two-month-old baby.
According to police, Lwazi Mdletshe was taken from his mother's home in the early hours of Sunday morning.
"It is reported that armed suspects entered a home and robbed the family and grabbed the baby as they fled from the scene," the police said in a statement.
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Baby Lwazi's mother, Zinhle Mdletshe, 30, previously told News24 two men entered her home and said they were looking for her nephew, who they alleged had stolen liquor from them.
She said the men refused to reason with her and her brother, who was with her at the time of the attack, when they explained that her nephew was not with her.
She said:
KwaZulu-Natal policing forum board member Lungelo Zulu said: "We are aware that there is a community policing forum structure in Chatsworth, but we need to ascertain if it is functional."
Zulu said it was concerning that no one had come forward with information on the suspects, "given the high population density in Welbedacht".
"The density of the area tells me that there must be someone who can anonymously report what they saw and heard," he added.
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Zulu said the policing forum had urged the police to deploy some of the newly appointed 1 800 officers in KwaZulu-Natal to hotspot areas like Welbedacht.
Police spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Robert Netshiunda, told News24 that while the investigation was still at a "developmental stage", the police were talking to "persons of interest in a bid to find the baby".
Failure of 'Crime Intelligence'
DA Member of Parliament Andrew Whitfield, who visited KwaZulu-Natal on Wednesday, said the incident was concerning and pointed to the failure of "Crime Intelligence units".
"It's so heartbreaking because this child is among the defenceless citizens of our country, and the police don't even have the crime intelligence capability to respond quickly in order to crack down on the criminality," he said.
"Kidnapping syndicates are able to act with impunity because the police usually can't find the people who have been kidnapped," he added.
In the meantime, baby Lwazi's parents, Zinhle and his father, Sifiso Duma, 45, have called on anyone with information to contact the police.
