JOHANNESBURG - Authorities have foiled an attempt to smuggle 14 undocumented children into the country through the Lebombo Border Post.
Border Management Authority officials intercepted a minibus taxi carrying the children, who are aged between 6 and 16.
The driver has been arrested and charged with aiding and abetting illegal entry.
The children were handed over to the Department of Social Development (DSD) for care and support.
In an unrelated matter the Department of Social Development is in the process of repatriating a five-year-old child who is incarcerated in the Republic of Mauritius for drug trafficking.
According to the DSD spokesperson Bathembu Futshane the biological mother was arrested in May 2019 while she was pregnant with the child.
"The minor child is currently in prison under the care of her mother, whilst awaiting her repatriation to South Africa.
"If the child is not repatriated to South Africa, she might be placed in the welfare system in Mauritius which will not be in her best interest, as it might complicate her chances of her being returned to her family in South Africa," Futshane said.