Keneilwe Shalaba, the 32-year-old woman accused of pocketing R75,000 from the sale of her two-year-old son, has been denied bail by the Vanderbijlpark Magistrates’ Court on Friday.
Shalaba, who gave birth on Wednesday, is accused of allegedly selling two-year-old Kutloana Shalaba on November 10, 2024, to unidentified individuals.
"On November 13, 2024, she allegedly reported a false case to the police, claiming that her son had been kidnapped by unknown men in a vehicle. During the police investigation, it was uncovered that the kidnapping claim was false. The woman later confessed to fabricating the story. She was subsequently arrested on November 19, 2024, and has been in custody since her arrest," said Gauteng National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson, Lumka Mahanjana.
Mahanjana said the whereabouts of the child remains unknown, and police efforts to locate him are ongoing.
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During the bail application, it was said Shalaba testified that she is a first offender, and that while in custody she did not receive good medical treatment as she is nine months pregnant.
She added that she co-operated with the police and when in custody, she was unable to maintain her other children. Furthermore, she said she would not evade trial as she wanted to find her missing child.
However, state prosecutor Cornelle Grobler opposed the bail application and said Shalaba might interfere with investigations, as she has already contacted one of the state witnesses.
Furthermore, she said Shalaba was a danger to her children as they might suffer the same fate as the missing child. Moreover, she said Shalaba was in a maternity ward where she received necessary medical attention and will not be the first woman to give birth in prison.
When handing down judgment, Magistrate Micheal Tlale said Shalaba failed to provide a plausible reason why she should be released on bail.
"The pregnancy and partially being medically attended are not enough to secure her release on bail. Furthermore, he said the personal circumstances that the accused presented are not exceptional; therefore, he finds that it is not in the interest of justice to grant the accused bail," said Mahanjana.
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