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MISSING GIRLS FOUND HITCHHIKING IN SA

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GEGE – Two girls who had been reported missing were found hitchhiking in South Africa, in search for their mothers.


The two young girls shocked many when they attempted to embark on the dangerous journey to Johannesburg, South Africa, on their own after migrating from the country illegally.


The pair, which is doing Grade V at a primary school situated around Gege, in the Shiselweni Region, had last been seen at their respective homesteads on Monday morning when they left for school.
The two girls, aged 11, are said to be close friends besides coming from neighbouring homesteads.


Journey


They became the talk of the local community when they both could not be accounted for since Monday, the day when they left their homesteads under the guise of going to school, until yesterday when they were caught in South Africa, trying to embark on the long journey to Johannesburg.

 


Immigration to Johannesburg from the country is an old phenomenon, which has long been driven by local economic hardships; young adults searching for better employment opportunities have often left the country to settle in the city of gold, as Johannesburg is commonly referred to.
However, what was striking about this particular case, is the age of the children who attempted the long trek covering over 400km unaccompanied.
Theirs was not about getting employment though, because they only wanted to be with their parents, as they later claimed when questioned by the police about their attempted move.


The two girls were travelling on foot, and already on the South African side closer to the neighbouring town of Piet Retief, when a curious resident became suspicious of their movements.


After spotting the pair, the worried resident immediately called the local radio station, Mkhondo FM, and alerted the person on the receiving end of the line, that there were children he considered were in danger after crossing the border from neighbouring Eswatini on their own. The resident informed the radio station that the children had indicated that they were trying to reach Johannesburg, where their parents stayed and claimed they were running away from abuse back home in Eswatini.


The young girls were reportedly flagging down cars for lifts when they raised the curiosity of the Good Samaritan.
An announcement was subsequently run by the radio station, in an attempt to locate the children’s parents or guardians.
Fortunately, the radio announcement about the ‘travelling children’ was also picked up by officers from the local Gege Police Station, where the girls had been reported missing since Monday.


Assistance was later sought from the South African Police Service, which later facilitated the return of the undocumented young girls back to their home country yesterday morning. The girls were fetched by local officers at the Gege Border Gate shortly after 11am, and taken to the local police station, where they were further interrogated.


During interrogation, the young girls claimed they were being beaten up by their guardians and had become tired of living under the conditions – hence their decision to set out to Johannesburg in search for their biological parents.

 

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