Government bringing home South African girl,5, whose mum is jailed in Mauritius for drug trafficking

As South wraps up the 16 days for no violence against women and children, officials of the Department of Social Development have arrived in the Republic of Mauritius to begin the process of repatriating a five-year-old child whose mother is currently incarcerated in that country for drug trafficking.

Head of delegation and Department of Social Development’s acting head of communication, Bathembu Futshane said over the next three days, the team will oversee the final steps of the child's repatriation, ensuring her safe return to South Africa.

The minor will be placed in the safety of her nominated grandmother in North West province.

Social worker, Dikeledi Louw, responsible for the task, will be closely coordinating with local authorities to ensure the child’s well-being during the critical transition.

Futshane said this will involve conducting a final assessment of the child’s living conditions in Mauritius, ensuring that all legal and welfare requirements in Mauritius are met.

On Tuesday, the Department of Social Development officials are scheduled to meet up with South African embassy officials in Mauritius.

“They will then be taken to see the mother and child for the first time to give them the necessary support,” said Futshane.

“The process is expected to begin in earnest to get the child back to South Africa. This repatriation brings the total number of children returned to South Africa to 25.”

The department has repatriated children to South Africa from countries including Brazil, Senegal, United Kingdom, and the Philippines.

In October, IOL reported that non-profit organisation Baagi Ba South Africa has been advocating for years for the South African government to enter into international prisoner transfer treaties. These treaties would allow South African prisoners convicted abroad to serve their sentences in South Africa.

In countries where such programmes exist, including the United States, they are designed to alleviate the hardships faced by offenders incarcerated far from home and facilitate their rehabilitation.

IOL spoke to Glory Matipile, founder and chief executive of Baagi Ba South Africa, who insists that effective rehabilitation for the hundreds of South Africans imprisoned around the world requires them to serve their sentences within South Africa’s correctional system. A key benefit of this, she noted, is the ability to speak the local language.

“This organisation, Baagi Ba South Africa, was founded in 2018, and so far, we have about 260 young people working across South Africa to raise awareness and provide support to families with relatives convicted abroad. We also collaborate with organisations that assist South Africans in foreign prisons. We reached out to our representatives in South African embassies but did not receive much support. Now, we work with organisations in foreign countries to facilitate communication between imprisoned South Africans and their families back home,” she said.

She said with the economic hardships, it is almost impossible for most families in South Africa to travel to visit their incarcerated relatives in countries including Brazil, Philippines or Hong Kong - a special administrative region of the People's Republic of China.

“South Africa is one of the few countries in the world without international prisoner transfer. Such a programme already exists in the United Nations, and what is left is for South Africa to adopt it and follow the rules that are already there, and being used by other countries. The essence is that if we had such a programme, South Africans convicted in foreign countries would be sent home to serve near their families. Foreigners in our prisons would them be moved to go and serve their sentences in their home countries so that rehabilitation can take place.

“You will remember that former president Nelson Mandela was advocating for prisoners’ rights. We are being denied to have such a policy.”

She said her organisation’s records has around 800 names of South Africans convicted and sentenced in foreign countries.

The most frequent crime, according to Matipile, which South Africans get convicted abroad is drug trafficking and possession.

jonisayi.maromo@iol.co.za

IOL