Social Development officials land in Mauritius to repatriate a child born in prison

CAPE TOWN - Social Development Department officials have landed in Port Louis - Mauritius - to repatriate a child who has been living in a prison with her mother.

The officials are meeting the five-year-old girl and her mother in prison later on Tuesday and are expected back in South Africa on Friday.

The acting Deputy Director-General for the Department's Corporate Support Services, Lumka Oliphant, says the mother was arrested in Mauritius for drug trafficking while she was pregnant in 2019.

Oliphant says if the child is not repatriated to South Africa, she might be placed in the welfare system in Mauritius.

Once on home soil, the child will be placed in the care of her grandmother who will look after her until the mother is released.

"The High Commissioner to South Africa officially received the delegation from DSD [Department of Social Development]. The Office of the High Commissioner plays an important role in the discharge of bilateral relations between South Africa and the Republic of Mauritius."