Zuko Komisa

The Department of Social Development in the North West said that 27 teenage boys who resurfaced from the abandoned mines at Stilfontein more than a month ago will be sent back to Mozambique.
The agency stated in a statement on Tuesday that of the 27 undocumented children, 12 had emerged from the abandoned mines and were placed in temporary safe care in Mahikeng for two weeks, while 15 had been discovered by the police in Matlosana.
The Department of Social Development (DSD) announced last month that approximately 96 undocumented children had been placed under arrest after they were discovered to be involved in an illegal mining gang in Khuma Stilfontein, in the North West.
“On Tuesday at 00:00 am, the social workers managing the case set out to repatriate the children to Lebombo border with a police escort. This after they got permission from the court to release them from their place of safety and… 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. This was facilitated by the Department of Social Development and International Social Workers Services. The children will be handed over to social workers at the Lebombo border,” said The Department of Social Development in the North West
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