JOHANNESBURG - The weekend abduction of a newborn at a Cape Town mall has sparked urgent calls for vigilance.
The baby has since been found.
Child safety advocates are warning communities to remain alert and report unusual behaviour.
Criminologist and national coordinator at Missing Children SA, Bianca Van Aswegen says kidnappings in South Africa has escalated and the unfortunate part is that statistics only give a general indication of the problem at hand.
She says in cases where families are involved, those cases are not reported.
"We have people living in rural areas, we have people who lack trust in our police system, and there are families and parents involved in these crimes and the selling of their children.
"Most of these cases do not get reported. The matter stands that if we see the severity of the problem, if everything had to be reported it would be far more shocking," she said.
Statistics show that at least 4571 cases of kidnapping were reported from January to March this year.
Gauteng recorded the most cases with 2414, followed by KwaZulu-Natal with 857, then Mpumalanga with 254, Eastern Cape with 235 and North West with 230
Save the Children SA's Megan Briede says children are often at greatest risk from people they know and are closest to.
Reflecting on child abduction, Briede says there are multiple reasons behind it.
Among them are individuals who want to raise a child but are unable to have one or have lost a child.
She also notes that relationship pressure and involvement in illegal activities.