Francistown registers case of child smuggling
Lesedi Mkhutshwa | Tuesday November 29, 2022 17:04
According to Radisigo, they received a case of three Zimbabwean male children who were smuggled from Zimbabwe to South Africa (SA) using Botswana as a corridor.
He said the children were accordingly assisted with food, accommodation, security, and psycho-social support while awaiting repatriation to their country.
Usually, when the festive season approaches there are growing cases of child smuggling, especially from Zimbabwe to SA. Last year a Zimbabwean man, Eric Mpofu appeared before Francistown Magistrate's Court after he allegedly ‘trafficked’ seven children from Zimbabwe to SA. Mpofu was arrested by the police in December 2021 at Bluetown while travelling with the children.
In a similar incident which took place in 2014, Botshabelo police in Selebi Phikwe arrested two Zimbabwean men in connection with a suspected human trafficking case involving nine children.
The same suspects were allegedly trafficking the children to SA using a minibus.
The incident came a day after 13 children from Zimbabwe were rescued from a suspected trafficking scam in Francistown. The then Selebi Phikwe district police boss, Takongwa Mazwiduma told this publication that when questioned, the suspects alleged that they were asked by the children’s parents who stay in Johannesburg to transport them as they were on school vacation.