Cape Town — A two-year-old girl, born in Dakar, Senegal, was repatriated to South Africa to join her family in the Eastern Cape after her grandmother was named as her legal guardian.
The girl arrived at OR Tambo International Airport on Sunday afternoon and the Department of Social Development (DSD) had social workers at hand to ensure the child returned to her family safely. Her mother was arrested for charges of drug trafficking, shortly before giving birth to her daughter, IOL reported.
“The department was notified by the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) through its International Social Services (ISS) Directorate in August 2023, that the biological mother of the child was arrested last year February,” the department said.
The department said the girl was considered to be in distress because a prison is not a conducive environment to raise a child, and added she would be integrated with her mother’s side of the family in the Eastern Cape while the department continues to provide child protection services and support to the family.
An emotional moment at OR Tambo International Airport when DSD National social worker handed over the child to Eastern Cape Department of Social Development. The department of health in Eastern Cape will have to assess the health of the baby.#DSDSenegalBaby#Childprotection365 pic.twitter.com/63ZeB2MJ36
— Social Development (@The_DSD) March 10, 2024
According to EWN, Minister of Social Development Lindiwe Zulu said since 2015, 21 children in a similar situation have been repatriated.
“I just cannot imagine the trauma of the child itself when the child has to now be uprooted from an environment where they were born, which is also a very unfortunate environment because no child should be born in a prison.” Zulu said
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
