Police say they have positively identified two brothers, aged 13 and 11, who were part of a group of juveniles caught on a viral video openly drinking alcohol in the Harare CBD on Christmas Day.

The minors, who looked unperturbed by the illicit activity, were also eating chips.

The drinking party sat on the veranda of a cell phone shop along Inez Terrez near a prominent food outlet.Police said the identity of the minors aged 13 and 11 has been established.

“The mother and father have also been identified and located,” police said.“The parents separated in November 2022 with the minors taken into the custody of their mother in Epworth area, Harare.”

In their investigations, police said they established that the minors left home to join other children living on their streets are now into “begging, vending and some misdemeanours in Harare Central Business District with other ‘street kids’.”

Police said the two minors who were in the company of eight “street kids” obtained Mayfair alcohol through someone yet to be identified.

Police said they have also identified the businessman who recorded the image and he is assisting with investigations.

Zimbabwean laws forbid the purchase and drinking of alcohol among juveniles below 18 years of age.

The shock image of minors indulging in the despicable act in broad daylight spotlighted on the degree of neglect that parents, the Zimbabwean society and government are all culpable to as they continue to subject some vulnerable sections of society to the ills of life.