Border Management Authority Intercept 42 Buses With Trafficked Children At Beitbridge Border Post
On 2 December 2023 at night, the Border Management Authority stopped 42 buses carrying 443 children with no guardians.

The authorities had to send the buses back to Zimbabwe.

They suspected that this was an incident of human trafficking.

The Border Management Authority commissioner Dr Nakampe Masiapato said they intercepted the operation based on the intelligence they received.

“A minor cannot travel from one country to another without their parent or a guardian. In instances where they are moving with a guatdian, there has to be legal paperwork that demonstrates that this particular individual is allowed by the law with the consent of the relevant parents or family members of that particular child to move from one country to another. 

Zimbabweans have defended the 42 buses busted by South African authorities carrying 443 trafficked children at Beitbridge Border Post.
 
He added that the children were all under 8 and had no one accompanying them. The BMA is currently investigating where the buses were going.

“The actual bus drivers themselves do indicate that they were actually picking up these children in identified locations as directed by the people they were interacting with.”
 
The Border Management Authority says 443 Zimbabwean children were rescued yesterday evening, before being trafficked into South Africa through the Beitbridge Border. BMA commissioner Dr Michael Masiapato discusses this further.