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Urgent search under way as two newborns abducted from Dora Nginza Hospital

Urgent search under way as two newborns abducted from Dora Nginza Hospital
Estelle Ellis
By Estelle Ellis
21 May 2025
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The Eastern Cape Department of Health confirmed on Wednesday morning, 21 May 2025, that two premature babies — one with a broken arm, were stolen from the Dora Nginza Hospital in Gqeberha. Both babies were still in incubators and hospital authorities fear for their lives.

A frantic search is under way by  health authorities as well as the police for the premature babies, who were stolen from the Dora Nginza Hospital’s neonatal ward on Tuesday night.

Health department spokesperson Sizwe Kupelo said they were in a race against time on Tuesday to find the tiny babies as both were still dependent on incubators. Temperatures plummeted overnight in Nelson Mandela Bay and health authorities fear for the children’s lives.

Kupelo said the police were treating the hospital as a crime scene now. 

This is not the first time that a baby has been stolen from the hospital. In May 2009 a child was stolen from the hospital but found three days later. In that case a teenager who had given birth to a stillborn baby was apprehended a few days later. In 2012 a student nurse was apprehended at the hospital after stealing a baby there. 

Kupelo said a security guard stationed at the Maternity Unit had tried to stop two women on Tuesday night from accessing the ward. They were carrying a big bag. 

“The ladies were assumed to be breastfeeding. However, one of the ladies managed to evade the security guard and gain access into the nursery carrying the same bag,” Kupelo said.

Criminal investigation


“Management and security personnel studied CCTV footage, and one of the ladies is seen using a different exit door. The matter has now been referred to the police for criminal investigation,” he said.

Eastern Cape health MEC Ntandokazi Capa has vehemently condemned this breach of security protocols and instructed the management to launch an internal investigation into circumstances surrounding the incident.

She further urged the community of Gqeberha to assist in the search for the two babies. 

“We are providing essential services to our communities, and hospitals should not be targeted by criminal elements. An appeal is being made to all community structures to work with the department and law enforcement agencies to put a stop to these incidents,” Capa said.

“Annually, the department is spending millions of rand in private security to ensure the availability of warm body security guards in its facilities due to this increase in criminal activities. Gqeberha security has been increased to include the latest security technologies,” she said.

Police spokesperson Captain Sandra Janse van Rensburg said the police’s Family, Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) Unit was investigating two cases of kidnapping following the abduction of the two newborn boys.

According to reports, the mother of one infant left her baby in the Premature Unit (Prem) of the maternity ward after breastfeeding at approximately 6.55pm. When she returned at about 8.30pm to feed the child again, she discovered he was missing. A second mother later arrived and found her baby also missing from the ward. The first infant is four days old, while the second is two days old.  

The FCS Unit urgently appealed to the community for assistance. Anyone with information about individuals in possession of two infants under suspicious circumstances is urged to contact Colonel Biko at 076 129 2948, Crime Stop at 08600 10111, or their nearest police station, said Janse van Rensburg. DM



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