SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT MINISTER SIGNS COOPERATION AGREEMENT BETWEEN SOUTH AFRICA AND MOZAMBIQUE

By Staff Writer

• A crucial memorandum of understanding has been signed between South Africa and Mozambique to strengthen cooperation and share best practices on social development issues, particularly regarding child protection measures.
• Minister of Social Development Sisisi Tolashe, who was part of the South African delegation to the 4th Bi-National Commission between South Africa and Mozambique, signed the MoU on behalf of South Africa.
• The signing took place as both countries seek to consolidate and accelerate progress on the implementation of their national development priorities and the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The Minister of Social Development, Nokuzola Sisisi Tolashe, has signed a cooperation agreement between South Africa and Mozambique on social development issues, with a particular focus on protecting vulnerable children.

The Minister was part of the team that joined South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on an official working visit to Maputo, Mozambique, from 2-3 December 2025 for the 4th Bi-National Commission between South Africa and Mozambique.

Under the South African-Mozambique Joint Commission for Cooperation, which was signed in 2015, the two countries sought to strengthen cooperation and share best practices in child protection measures, care and services for older persons, persons with disabilities, the empowerment of women and girls, and community development, amongst other issues.

The signing of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) comes at a crucial time, with both countries seeking to consolidate and accelerate progress on the implementation of their national development priorities and the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

A key issue the two countries sought to address through the MoU is the increasing number of unaccompanied and undocumented migrant children. With no caregiver to support and protect them, unaccompanied and undocumented minors are most vulnerable to human trafficking, abuse, and exploitation as they navigate the often-risky journey to the border on their own.

The need to care for and protect these children is informed by the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of the Child and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, both of which South Africa and Mozambique have ratified.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Minister Tolashe stressed the importance of the two countries working together to protect the most vulnerable, who, for no fault of their own, find themselves in precarious circumstances and prone to exploitation by human trafficking syndicates.

“We should move with a sense of urgency to finalise the Joint Implementation Plan between our countries,” Minister Tolashe said.

She added that recent police activities have uncovered a lot of minor children from Mozambique who have been lured and forced into illegal mining activities across South Africa.

“This MoU builds on the work currently underway and coordinated through the Cross-Border Forum on Children on the Move – unaccompanied and undocumented children,” said Minister Tolashe.