Court orders alleged baby snatcher to remove pardah

Alleged baby snatcher Sameemah Jacobs has been ordered to remove her pardah and produce her identity document when she signs in at Delft Police Station. This is after the Magistrate granted her an amendment to her bail conditions but denied her request to visit Mitchells Plain.

Jacobs, who is out on R4000 bail following her arrest for the kidnapping of baby Imaad Sharmar in June from his mother, Imaan Sharmar, at Middestad Mall in Bellville under the pretence that she was a volunteer for the NPO.

Jacobs had allegedly represented herself as three different people: that of herself, Wasiema, and Chevon Classen, who was a NPO sponsor and volunteer for the Zoey.

Jacobs, who was represented by her legal aid lawyer, who read her affidavit in court yesterday, indicated that she wished to sign in at Delft Police Station instead of Kleinvlei Police Station.

She also stated that she had approached the Western Cape High Court and the Housing Tribunal to assist her with the eviction of tenants who were living illegally inside her home in Searidge Park in Mitchells Plain and to collect her personal belongings.

She explained that she wanted to move from Eerste River to Delft for the sake of her children, who were living with family, claiming that she had secured affordable accommodation which would provide a stable environment for them and that she was a first-time offender.

State prosecutor, Salaahudeen Simon, jumped in, stating that Jacobs did not provide credible documentation to support her request, such as high court documents or those relating to the property.

He said that the residence was registered under a community of property clause and that Jacobs was not the sole owner, which would strike against her request to enter Mitchells Plain, and he did not have an issue with her signing in at Delft Police Station.

Jacobs' lawyer then stated that her client was in possession of her documentation for the court and the house.

Magistrate Gcobani Ndaleni intervened, asking whether it was standard procedure for the owner to be present during an eviction. He asked where her family and friends were who had supported her during her bail application and warned her that evicting people without following the law was illegal.

“What is stopping her from instructing a friend? I remember during the bail application she had a friend who looked after her children,” he said. “Are you saying she doesn't have the friend's number? I believe there were people who paid her bail.”

Jacobs claimed to no longer have contact with those people.

Ndaleni did not waste time in making his decision and said he would grant her permission to sign in at Delft Police Station but refused her request for Mitchells Plain.

Simon said there was a request by the investigating officer (Sergeant Dawid Fortuin) that she does not wear a pardah and must produce an identity document when doing her signing in at the police station.

The matter was postponed to January 22, 2026.

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