SA HIGH COMMISSIONER TO MAURITIUS WELCOMES DSD OFFICIALS REPATRIATING MINOR CHILD

• A team from the Department of Social Development has landed in Mauritius to begin the process of repatriating a five-year-old South African child whose mother is in prison in that country awaiting trial for drug trafficking.
• While in Mauritius, the department is being supported by the South African High Commissioner to Mauritius, Dr Hlamalani Manzini, and representatives from the Department of International Relations and Cooperation.
• According to the High Commissioner, there are currently 38 South Africans in prison in Mauritius, 23 men and 15 women. All those incarcerated are linked to drug trafficking.

By Bathembu Futshane

Port Louis: The South African High Commissioner to Mauritius, Dr Hlamalani Manzini, warmly welcomed the officials from the Department of Social Development (DSD) who are in the country to repatriate a minor child born of a South African woman incarcerated for drug trafficking.

The officials will meet the woman and her five-year-old daughter today.

The Republic of Mauritius, an island state east of Madagascar in the South East Indian Ocean, is one of a host of countries where South Africans are incarcerated, most of whom were arrested and sentenced for trafficking drugs.

One of the duties of the High Commissioner is to ensure South Africans imprisoned in Mauritius maintain relations with their family members back home.

Currently, 38 South Africans are in prison in Mauritius, 23 men and 15 women, with the longest sentence being 25 years. This was handed down to a male prisoner. The longest sentence for a female is 15 years, Dr Manzini told the department’s delegation. All those incarcerated are linked to drug trafficking.

Dr Manzini added that many South Africans are held in prison for up to six years on average while awaiting trial, with no option of bail.

The woman whose child the department is busy repatriating has been awaiting trial since her arrest six years ago.

The Mauritian data highlights the intersection between drug trafficking and the impact on young families, particularly children. Such conduct contributes not only to the degradation of social and community values, but also to the destruction of families.

The department, working closely with the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, will support the family through the repatriation process and the necessary transition required once the child is reunited with her grandmother, who will now be her primary caregiver.