ONCE thought of as an angel who looked after Aids orphans in Diepsloot, Gauteng, Mama Jackie was today found guilty of selling two kids for R30 000!.
Judge Mohamed Ismail found that Jacqueline Ramohlola, better known as Mama Jackie, guilty of selling a baby girl and a 6-year-old boy to a childless couple from KwaMhlanga for R15 000 each in 2012.
The couple testified that they couldn’t have kids of their own and had contacted Mama Jackie after reading about her in a newspaper because their previous attempts to adopt a child were unsuccessful.
They thought the adoption was legal and that the money they paid to Mama Jackie's centre was for the children's registration, but they went to the magistrate's court for help when they couldn’t get any legal documents from her.
Ramohlola signed a letter confirming the adoption, but claimed she had been under the impression that it was a "thank you" letter for the donation because she could not read or write.
Judge Ismail rejected Ramohlola's evidence that the couple had told her they were social workers, had donated R30 000 to the centre and then borrowed the children for the holidays.
Ramohlola had tried to portray the mother as sly and hell-bent on getting her into trouble, but the judge said the overwhelming probability was that Ramohlola had engaged in the sale of kids by pretending that the social worker needed money to register them.
Ramohlola was further convicted on charges of running an unregistered childcare centre and continuing to take in kids despite a High Court interdict to stop her centre in Diepsloot, the Dellfire Care Centre, from operating.
The trial was postponed to January 2016 for a pre-sentencing report.
http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/mama-jackie-guilty-of-child-trafficking-20151201
