Social workers from the Gauteng Department of Social Development are arranging to repatriate eight Mozambican boys to their home country.
These boys were discovered during a raid conducted by the Department of Labour and Employment, assisted by the police.
Mozambican boys rescued
This action follows the receipt of information in January that a factory in Nigel, owned by a Chinese national, was employing children and undocumented foreign workers.
The department relocated the boys between 13 and 17 years old to the Mary Moodley Child and Youth Care Centre in Benoni.
According to The Citizen, the department filed charges against the owner of the electrical supply company in Nigel, accusing them of child labour, maintaining substandard working conditions, and employing minors without proper documentation.
The Mozambican boys arrived in South Africa on January 15 in a taxi with 14 other boys from their village.
According to the boys, they were recruited by a driver from a Nigel-based company while they were in Mozambique.
“The driver of the taxi was reported to have come from the same village and asked young men and families who were interested in working in Johannesburg. He informed the recruits and family members that there was no need for passports or documents,” said spokesperson Themba Gadebe.
“They said a minibus was driving around their village, asking for those who wanted to come to South Africa for better opportunities.”
Inside the minibus, the Mozambican boys noticed other children their age wearing expensive sneakers and carrying iPhones, who persuaded them to accompany them.
On Tuesday, the Children’s Court in Nigel granted the department authorisation to release the boys from the centre for repatriation and transfer them to Mozambique authorities.
Subsequently, social workers in Mozambique will facilitate the reunion of the children with their parents.
More than 130 abducted schoolchildren in Nigeria returned home after weeks in captivity
Over 130 Nigerian schoolchildren, who had been held captive for over two weeks, were rescued and arrived in their home state in northwestern Nigeria on Monday.
Six of the 137 students remain in hospital, and one staff member who was abducted along with the children died in captivity, military officials said.
According to AP News, the children were kidnapped by gunmen riding motorcycles from their school in the isolated town of Kuriga in Kaduna state on 7 March, prompting a comprehensive rescue mission.
On Sunday, they were liberated by the military in a forest approximately 200 kilometres (over 120 miles) to the north in Zamfara state. However, authorities have not disclosed specific details regarding the rescue or mentioned any arrests of suspected kidnappers.
