Johannesburg – The North West Department of Social Development has repatriated 27 Mozambican teenage boys back to their country.
Some of the teenagers were among a group of suspected illegal miners who resurfaced from Stilfontein’s abandoned gold mines in the North West, more than a month ago.
The department said all the teenagers were undocumented.
Fifteen children were found by the police in Matlosana and 12 others resurfaced from the abandoned mines.
They were temporarily placed in safe care in the provincial capital, Mahikeng, where they stayed for two weeks.
Even though some of the Mozambican minors were involved in illegal mining activities at Stilfontein in Matlosana local municipality, their placement in safe care by the department, was in line with the provisions of the Children’s Act.
The Act mandates social workers or police officials to remove a child who is in danger and place them in temporary safe care.
“On Tuesday (17 December 2024) at 00:00, the Social Workers managing the case set out to repatriate the children to Lebombo border [post] with a police escort,” revealed the North West Department of Social Development
“This after they got permission from the court to release them from their place of safety and allow them to repatriate them and hand them over to their counterparts in Mozambique, who will then reunify the children with their parents.
“This was made possible after the Mozambican Consulate issued them with temporary travel documents and allowed a care-to-care process between the Social Development Departments in the two countries.”
The Department of Social Development and International Social Workers Services facilitated their participation.
The children were later handed over to Social Workers and Mozambique authorities at the Lebombo border on Tuesday, (17 December 2024).
MEC for Social Development Basetsana Sussana Dantjie thanked the departmental team, led by the acting Head of Department Dr. Fezile Ngqobe, for arranging temporary safe care for the Mozambican children and working around the clock to repatriate them to their original country.
“We thank all the stakeholders who came forward and played a critical role in ensuring that these children receive the necessary care and protection,” Dantjie said before the children left for the Lebombo border post in the early hours of Tuesday.
“We also thank the Mozambican Consulate for speeding up the process of repatriation.”
Dantjie said the department and other stakeholders were ready to assist other children who may resurface from the old gold mines in Stilfontein.
Some of the Mozambican children have told police that they were lured by false promises of jobs in South Africa and then forced to work in abandoned gold mines for long periods underground.
