News / National
Missing schoolboy found in South Africa
11 Oct 2014 at 16:21hrs | Views
AN intricate human trafficking web smuggling children across Limpopo is on the prowl amid revelations that a Rusape schoolboy who went missing last month was located stranded at an orphanage in Musina, South Africa.
Simbarashe Mutete (14), a Grade Seven pupil at Vengere Primary School who went missing on September 3, was discovered last Friday by his father and two police officers from the Border Control Unit (Beitbridge), at an orphanage in Musina, where he was forced to undertake menial part-time jobs to earn a living.
Manicaland provincial police spokesperson, Inspector Enock Chishiri on Wednesday confirmed that the missing boy was located in South Africa and has since been re-united with his family.
Insp Chishiri said police at Rusape Central Police Station were carrying out investigations to establish circumstances surrounding his disappearance and location across Limpopo.
"A case of a missing person was reported at Rusape Central Police Station and it is true that the boy was located in Musina, South Africa. We are doing our own investigations to establish circumstances of his disappearance and location in Musina. It is after the investigations that we could say his location in South Africa is linked to human trafficking or kidnapping," said Insp Chishiri.
Investigations by The Manica Post revealed that the boy met a dreadlocked man at shops in-between ZBS and the NE section, where he had gone to buy bread.
The unidentified suspect asked him if he wanted a well paying job.
The boy's untamed desire of his own pay-cheque and the potential to better his life blinded him so much that he believed the promise of a job in the famed neighbouring country without thinking twice on the probable risks and the likelihood of deception.
"He had another young boy, Ngoni, who he said had indicated willingness to accompany him to South Africa and I fell for it. He told me to rush home and change my uniform. He is the one who planted in me the idea to misrepresent to my mother that there was civies day at our school," explained Simbarashe.
They left Rusape in a white Mercedes Benz and allegedly picked another boy in Mutare before swapping cars and being handed over to another suspect, who told the boys that he was from Bulawayo, but works in South Africa.
"On arriving at Beitbridge Border Post, we were told to disembark from the car and cross on the false pretext that we were looking for plastic containers. He told us that if anyone asked us we would respond in Venda saying inyaga zvigubhu (we are looking for plastic containers). The Vendas often frequent the post looking for plastic containers for re-sale and that is what we said and we ended up being given several containers by South African soldiers. After crossing the border this way, we caught up with the guy on the other side of the border and hit the road," said Simbarashe.
It never occurred to him that he had walked straight into a trap that has seen many of compatriots falling prey to as they desperately looked for an avenue out of poverty.
In Musina, Simbarashe and his two compatriots were given a few Rands and boarded a kombi to a certain "church" in the Musina area.
"He gave us directions to that place and when we got there, the kombi crew ordered us to disembark. We were received by officials who registered our names. After some days, our friend Ngoni was taken after volunteering to go to the farms, while I remained behind and later went to Johannesburg where I was employed as storekeeper and after getting paid, I called back home explaining how I had ended up in South Africa," he added.
"At the church, there were so many Shona speaking children of my age. There were more than 30 of them, and all said they came from Zimbabwe. They were brought there in the same way. My father later called a relative who told me to report to the church in Musina again under the guise of intending to give me a job," said the boy.
His father, Mr Innocent Mutete, who travelled all the way to South Africa to collect him, after consulting a "prophetess" in Rusape, expressed gratitude at the assistance he received from Beitbridge police.
"He went missing on September 4 and I located him in Musina on October 3. This was after consulting a prophetess. I am so grateful that the prayers and concoction she gave me worked wonders by compelling those people who had smuggled my son to release him," he said.
"I am also grateful about the assistance rendered to me by the Officer-In-Charge Border Control Unit and the two detectives who escorted me to retrieve my son in South Africa. They are the ones who liaised with their counterparts in South Africa to establish the exact location of my son, Simbarashe, and after positively identifying him and verification as well as producing his particulars, he was released into my custody," said Mr Mutete.
"While I am happy about being reunited with my son, it is my appeal to our Government to investigate circumstances leading to the huge volumes of young Zimbabwean children at the Dutch Church in Musina. What is worrying is that there is no security and proper care of children. There is a lot of child labour going on there as children end up doing menial chores to eke a living. I noted that most of the children were between 12 and 15, and almost all of them, numbering nearly 40, speak fluent Shona. Those that I asked said they were brought there by various vehicles from Harare, Mutare, Mberengwa and Chinhoyi among other areas. There could be a syndicate trafficking these children to South Africa," said Mr Mutete.
According to media reports, a shady syndicate masquerading as an employment agency is believed to be luring Zimbabwean women to China where they are forced to work as club strippers and to act in pornographic films.
The syndicate, believed to comprise a Zimbabwean based in Beijing and an undisclosed number of Chinese nationals, is using Harare-based runners to recruit the women.
The ring targets both sexes, but mostly females are aged between 16 and 25. Social joints, among them up-market night clubs are some of the recruiting grounds.
Simbarashe Mutete (14), a Grade Seven pupil at Vengere Primary School who went missing on September 3, was discovered last Friday by his father and two police officers from the Border Control Unit (Beitbridge), at an orphanage in Musina, where he was forced to undertake menial part-time jobs to earn a living.
Manicaland provincial police spokesperson, Inspector Enock Chishiri on Wednesday confirmed that the missing boy was located in South Africa and has since been re-united with his family.
Insp Chishiri said police at Rusape Central Police Station were carrying out investigations to establish circumstances surrounding his disappearance and location across Limpopo.
"A case of a missing person was reported at Rusape Central Police Station and it is true that the boy was located in Musina, South Africa. We are doing our own investigations to establish circumstances of his disappearance and location in Musina. It is after the investigations that we could say his location in South Africa is linked to human trafficking or kidnapping," said Insp Chishiri.
Investigations by The Manica Post revealed that the boy met a dreadlocked man at shops in-between ZBS and the NE section, where he had gone to buy bread.
The unidentified suspect asked him if he wanted a well paying job.
The boy's untamed desire of his own pay-cheque and the potential to better his life blinded him so much that he believed the promise of a job in the famed neighbouring country without thinking twice on the probable risks and the likelihood of deception.
"He had another young boy, Ngoni, who he said had indicated willingness to accompany him to South Africa and I fell for it. He told me to rush home and change my uniform. He is the one who planted in me the idea to misrepresent to my mother that there was civies day at our school," explained Simbarashe.
They left Rusape in a white Mercedes Benz and allegedly picked another boy in Mutare before swapping cars and being handed over to another suspect, who told the boys that he was from Bulawayo, but works in South Africa.
"On arriving at Beitbridge Border Post, we were told to disembark from the car and cross on the false pretext that we were looking for plastic containers. He told us that if anyone asked us we would respond in Venda saying inyaga zvigubhu (we are looking for plastic containers). The Vendas often frequent the post looking for plastic containers for re-sale and that is what we said and we ended up being given several containers by South African soldiers. After crossing the border this way, we caught up with the guy on the other side of the border and hit the road," said Simbarashe.
It never occurred to him that he had walked straight into a trap that has seen many of compatriots falling prey to as they desperately looked for an avenue out of poverty.
In Musina, Simbarashe and his two compatriots were given a few Rands and boarded a kombi to a certain "church" in the Musina area.
"He gave us directions to that place and when we got there, the kombi crew ordered us to disembark. We were received by officials who registered our names. After some days, our friend Ngoni was taken after volunteering to go to the farms, while I remained behind and later went to Johannesburg where I was employed as storekeeper and after getting paid, I called back home explaining how I had ended up in South Africa," he added.
"At the church, there were so many Shona speaking children of my age. There were more than 30 of them, and all said they came from Zimbabwe. They were brought there in the same way. My father later called a relative who told me to report to the church in Musina again under the guise of intending to give me a job," said the boy.
His father, Mr Innocent Mutete, who travelled all the way to South Africa to collect him, after consulting a "prophetess" in Rusape, expressed gratitude at the assistance he received from Beitbridge police.
"He went missing on September 4 and I located him in Musina on October 3. This was after consulting a prophetess. I am so grateful that the prayers and concoction she gave me worked wonders by compelling those people who had smuggled my son to release him," he said.
"I am also grateful about the assistance rendered to me by the Officer-In-Charge Border Control Unit and the two detectives who escorted me to retrieve my son in South Africa. They are the ones who liaised with their counterparts in South Africa to establish the exact location of my son, Simbarashe, and after positively identifying him and verification as well as producing his particulars, he was released into my custody," said Mr Mutete.
"While I am happy about being reunited with my son, it is my appeal to our Government to investigate circumstances leading to the huge volumes of young Zimbabwean children at the Dutch Church in Musina. What is worrying is that there is no security and proper care of children. There is a lot of child labour going on there as children end up doing menial chores to eke a living. I noted that most of the children were between 12 and 15, and almost all of them, numbering nearly 40, speak fluent Shona. Those that I asked said they were brought there by various vehicles from Harare, Mutare, Mberengwa and Chinhoyi among other areas. There could be a syndicate trafficking these children to South Africa," said Mr Mutete.
According to media reports, a shady syndicate masquerading as an employment agency is believed to be luring Zimbabwean women to China where they are forced to work as club strippers and to act in pornographic films.
The syndicate, believed to comprise a Zimbabwean based in Beijing and an undisclosed number of Chinese nationals, is using Harare-based runners to recruit the women.
The ring targets both sexes, but mostly females are aged between 16 and 25. Social joints, among them up-market night clubs are some of the recruiting grounds.
Source - manicapost
