An 11-year-old South African boy who vanished from his home in May 2023 and took a bus to Zimbabwe has been reunited with his family.
The Department of Social Development said the child was brought back to South Africa from Zimbabwe after being separated from his family for almost two years.
According to the department, the boy provided various justifications for his arrival in Zimbabwe, which complicated the countrywide search for him.
This set off a complex cross-border child protection case, with his disappearance becoming a matter of national concern, prompting the department to work alongside its Zimbabwean counterparts to locate and return him home.
While in Zimbabwe, he was diagnosed with autism. However, further assessments will be conducted to determine the full extent of his health condition.
“His condition may explain why he wandered off and why repatriation efforts faced such obstacles,” a social worker from the department said.
According to the social workers’ report, he consistently eluded law enforcement, leading to multiple failed attempts at repatriation.
He was recently taken to the border at Beitbridge after being discovered on the streets of Harare.
Boy now speaks Shona fluently
The boy made the trip to Johannesburg the next day, where he was reunited with his family, escorted by his mother, maternal aunt, and a Gauteng social worker.
“He started crying when he saw me and was saying a lot that I couldn’t understand because it was in Shona; he’s lost his Zulu [mother tongue] and now speaks Shona fluently,” the boy’s 33-year-old mother said.
The mother described him as an independent child who often wandered off.
When he started primary school, his disappearances became more frequent, sometimes leading to police involvement or kind strangers returning him home.
“We thought he was just a seriously naughty child, and we would punish him and ground him from playing outside,” said the mother.
When asked about this behaviour, she admitted that it had been a confusing and painful journey.
“It will empower me. I will know what medication he needs and what school I need to send him to. I also want to get him a tracking bracelet,” the mother said.
Psychosocial support
Seated on the concrete veranda of his home in Alexandra, Gauteng, the small-framed, shy-looking boy plays quietly with his cousin and a two-year-old brother he has just met for the first time.
One of the department’s officials who accompanied the boy’s mother to Limpopo, Lamlani Mthembele, said the moment of reunion was deeply emotional.
“When they saw each other, he cried, his mom was crying, and even though we couldn’t understand what he was saying in Shona, it felt like he was saying he was happy to be back home and that he would never leave his mother’s side again,” said Mthembele.
Additionally, the department has committed to getting social workers from the Gauteng region to support the boy’s mother in securing medical assessments and the necessary interventions for his well-being.
The department has assured ongoing psychosocial support for the boy and his family to ensure his smooth reintegration and emotional healing.
