Kidnapping 'a hoax'

"I just want him home. I am pleading with the nation to help me find my son."

This was the plea of a Gauteng father whose 13-day-old baby was "kidnapped" on Monday night by house robbers.

But the police now doubt that there was a kidnapping and both Julius Lubisi, 46, and his wife, Busi, 40, were taken in for questioning.

Their "son", Jaden, was found in Witbank yesterday in the care of his real mother - the Lubisi family's eldest daughter.

According to Julius and Busi, who are the child's grandparents, Jaden was abducted when robbers broke into their home in Kempton Park West, on the East Rand.

Busi said that she and her 16-year-old daughter were overpowered, tied up and drugged.

It was also alleged that two of the robbers were women and that, when they fled the scene, they took Jaden with them.

Though the house was filled with expensive electrical appliances, the only items that appeared to have been stolen were Busi's cellphone, food and some of Jaden's clothing.

"I don't know who would do this. We have no enemies. I just want South Africans to help us. We are so afraid for the safety of our little boy," said Julius.

Julius said his wife and daughter were "hysterical, confused and dazed".

"They can't remember...they remember being drugged and then me waking them up..."

There was no sign of forced entry to the property.

Neighbours said they had not known that the "nice couple" had a baby.

"Surely someone speaks about a new child," one said.

A policeman said they became suspicious when Julius said they had still to tell their parents of their son's birth.

"What parents do not tell their mother that she has a grandson?" he asked.

Julius denied that the kidnapping was staged.

Police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Katlego Mogale said Busi Lubisi had been arrested for misleading the police.

"The husband and his teenage daughter are being questioned. The motive is being established."