A 20-year-old woman has pleaded guilty to attempting to sell her 19-month-old son on Gumtree.
Police received a tip off from a member of the public that the young woman was attempting to sell her baby boy for 500 rand ($477) and subsequently arrested her during an undercover operation.
“We met her and there was an exchange of money with an undercover police officer” spokesperson for the Hawks special crimes investigation, Hangwani Mulaudzi, reportedly said.
In a company statement, Gumtree representative Claire Cobbledick said that once the South African customer service team was alerted, “the team immediately removed the ad and blocked the user’s account.” The issue was then escalated to the relevant authorities.
The woman, who initially denied being the child’s mother, has since appeared in a South African court on human trafficking chargers. She has been freed on bail and is currently under house arrest. Sentencing will be carried out on February 29 at Pietermaritzburg Magistrates Court.
According to police officer Mthokozisi Ngobese who interviewed the mother after her arrest, the woman wanted to “get rid of the child” as the father was no longer prepared to support them financially.
The toddler is now in the care of social workers.
