Drug mule child home

REPATRIATION: GRANDMOTHER FOUND SUITABLE TO TAKE GIRL IN

- Vhahangwele Nemakonde

South African five-year-old child, born to a mother serving a prison sentence for drug trafficking in Mauritius, will be repatriated home after department of social development officials arrived in the island this week.

The delegation left on Monday and is expected to return with the child on Friday.

Spokesperson Bathembu Futshane said their Adoptions and International Social Service (ISS) received a request from the department of international relations and cooperation (Dirco) on 15 May to assist with family tracing, assessment and possible repatriation of the child.

"The biological mother was arrested in May 2019 while she was pregnant with the child. The minor child is in prison under the care of her mother, while awaiting her repatriation," said Futshane.