Search for father of abandoned baby
There is still no sign of a 24-year-old man who is alleged to have dumped his toddler son on the side of the road in Fordsburg, Johannesburg, earlier this week.
Warrant Officer Xoli Mbele said police were still searching for him.
It was alleged that the boy's mother had met with the 24-year-old man at Bree Street taxi rank at around 14:00 on Thursday to drop off the boy. Warrant Officer Xoli Mbele said the child usually spent the weekends with his father.
The toddler was later seen dropped off in Queen Street in Fordsburg by a man travelling in a grey Volkswagen Jetta around 18:00.
A woman spotted the crying toddler roaming around in the street; picked him up and took him to the nearest police station. When she arrived, the child did not want to be separated from her, Mbele said.
A piece of paper found in the boy's pants was the only link to finding his family.
"The paper has contact details of the nursery and, with the help of the nursery, we managed to find the mother of the child."
The child and his mother were reunited on Friday morning, Mbele said.
The 31-year-old mother was shocked to find her son had been abandoned.
The couple had broken up almost a year ago, but, according to the mother, there was no bad blood.
"She said they were not fighting," Mbele said.
On Saturday, the police called the father and asked him where his son was. He said the child was with his mother.
When the police asked him to come to the police station, the father said he did not have money to get there. He then switched off his phone.
(File photo: Gallo Images)