Social Development Dept repatriates toddler born in a Senegalese prison
The two-year-old arrived in South Africa accompanied by social workers on Sunday morning and is set to be handed over to her grandmother in the Eastern Cape. The child's mother was arrested in Dakar for drug trafficking two years ago and gave birth within days of her incarceration.
Picture: Shangarey/123rf.com
JOHANNESBURG - An Eastern Cape grandmother is expected to meet her two-year-old grandchild who was born behind bars in West Africa for the first time in the coming days.
The Department of Social Development repatriated the toddler back to South Africa from a Senegalese prison where the child’s mother is being detained.
The toddler arrived in the country, accompanied by social workers, on Sunday morning and will be handed over to the grandmother in the Eastern Cape.
The child's mother was arrested in Dakar for drug trafficking two years ago and gave birth within days of her incarceration.
Minister of Social Development Lindiwe Zulu said since 2015, 21 children in a similar situation have been repatriated.
"I just cannot imagine the trauma of the child itself when the child has to now be uprooted from an environment where they were born, which is also a very unfortunate environment because no child should be born in a prison."