The boys said a minibus was driving around their village, asking for those who wanted to come to SA for better opportunities.
"According to trafficked victims, inside the minibus, there were other children of the same age wearing expensive sneakers and iPhones, convincing them to come with them."
Gadebe said this week, the department went back to the Children’s Court in Nigel to seek permission from the court to release the boys from their place of safety.
"[This will] allow [us] to repatriate them and hand them over to their counterparts in Mozambique, who will then reunite the children with their parents. This was made possible after the Mozambican consulate issued them with temporary travel documents and allowed a care-to-care process between the social development departments in the two countries.
"The children will be handed over to social workers at the Komatipoort border post," Gadebe said.
One of the boys, who cannot be named to protect his identity, said: “At last, I am happy that I am going back to my family because the man who brought us here in SA lied to us. Everything he promised us was a lie.
“It is not like we are starving where we are coming from. Our intention was to work while studying, and we were going to buy ourselves Air Force sneakers and iPhones, but to our surprise, we were locked in a hall where we worked day and night. Instead, they paid us R75 a day, and they will open for us only on Sunday to buy ourselves food and toiletries.
"And one thing about South Africa is that it is very cold, and we did not have warm clothes, but thanks to social workers who were able to get us warm clothes,” said one rescued boy.
Mozambican boys happy to go back home as repatriation looms
Department of social development finalising details for eight trafficked minors
The Gauteng department of social development is finalising details around the repatriation of eight Mozambican boys who were trafficked into SA in January.
Department spokesperson Themba Gadebe said the boys were found at a Chinese factory in Nigel, Ekurhuleni, during a police raid three months ago.
The factory was found to have been employing children and undocumented foreign nationals.
"The children, who are between 13 and 17 years old, were placed at the Mary Moodley Child and Youth Care Centre in Benoni. A case of child labour, poor working conditions and employing undocumented minors was opened against the owner of an electrical supply company in Nigel," said Gadebe.
He said social workers interviewed the boys who told them that they were from Nbacunte Village in Xai-Xai, Mozambique.
"They reported that they came to South Africa on January 15 in a taxi with about 14 other boys from their village after being recruited by the Nigel company driver in Mozambique.
"The taxi driver was reported to have come from the same village and asked young men and families interested in working in South Africa, Johannesburg. He informed the recruits and family members that there was no need for passports or documents," said Gadebe.
The boys said a minibus was driving around their village, asking for those who wanted to come to SA for better opportunities.
"According to trafficked victims, inside the minibus, there were other children of the same age wearing expensive sneakers and iPhones, convincing them to come with them."
Gadebe said this week, the department went back to the Children’s Court in Nigel to seek permission from the court to release the boys from their place of safety.
"[This will] allow [us] to repatriate them and hand them over to their counterparts in Mozambique, who will then reunite the children with their parents. This was made possible after the Mozambican consulate issued them with temporary travel documents and allowed a care-to-care process between the social development departments in the two countries.
"The children will be handed over to social workers at the Komatipoort border post," Gadebe said.
One of the boys, who cannot be named to protect his identity, said: “At last, I am happy that I am going back to my family because the man who brought us here in SA lied to us. Everything he promised us was a lie.
“It is not like we are starving where we are coming from. Our intention was to work while studying, and we were going to buy ourselves Air Force sneakers and iPhones, but to our surprise, we were locked in a hall where we worked day and night. Instead, they paid us R75 a day, and they will open for us only on Sunday to buy ourselves food and toiletries.
"And one thing about South Africa is that it is very cold, and we did not have warm clothes, but thanks to social workers who were able to get us warm clothes,” said one rescued boy.
Another boy said he was worried about his mother because she does not know that he was trafficked to SA.
“I was doing standard 6, and this year I was supposed to be doing standard 7 since in January we were already in South Africa. I did not have a chance. My reason to get into the taxi that day was because those boys were wearing expensive sneakers and carrying iPhones, and I knew my mother was not going to afford any of them.
"I am happy because, at last, I am going to be reunited with my family after such along time. I will come back to South Africa, but as a responsible person with legal papers,” he said.
A social work manager from the department’s Nigel office, Baby Makhumisani, said the repatriation of the children will also spotlight the problem of child trafficking as part of Child Protection Week awareness.
“The children are happy, and we are happy as a team because we managed to complete the matter. These children, who were placed in our institutions, were no longer happy since there was a language barrier. Sometimes social workers will receive calls from institutions complaining that they are refusing to eat their food," said Makhumisani.
Gadebe said the factory owner was arrested. However, the factory remains operational.
sibiyan@sowetan.co.za