Online Reporter
Raymond Jaravaza, Sunday News Reporter
FOUR children from Seshanke Village in the Nesigwe area of Nkayi District, Matabeleland North Province, embarked on a 160-kilometre journey without adult supervision to Bulawayo in search of their aunt last weekend.
The siblings, however, ended up getting lost in the city with no contact details or address of where they intended to go.
The four children aged between six and 13 live with their elderly grandmother, who had no idea that they had embarked on the 160-kilometre journey from Nkayi to Bulawayo, according to Mr Nhlanhla Moses Ncube, an official from an organisation known as the Nkayi Community Parliament.
The minors have since been reunited with their grandmother, only identified as Gogo MaMoyo, after the intervention of the Department of Social Welfare and the Nkayi Rural District Council’s office.
Speaking to Sunday News from Nkayi, Mr Ncube said the children ended up at Pumula Police Station after a concerned resident noticed them roaming around aimlessly in the suburb.
Mr Ncube said it’s not uncommon for transport operators to ferry passengers under the “pay forward” arrangement, where the bus fare is paid upon arrival by an individual waiting for the passengers at the final destination.
“We suspect that the children lied to the conductor or bus driver that their aunt was waiting for them at Renkini Bus Terminus in Bulawayo and that she would pay for their fare when they got there.
“Transport operators do it all the time and allow some passengers to board their buses under the pay-forward arrangement. The bus crew must have realised that the kids had not been honest when the bus arrived in Bulawayo and there was no one waiting for them,” said Mr Ncube.
It is not clear how the children ended up in Pumula suburb from Renkini Long Distance Bus Terminus.
Bulawayo police spokesperson Inspector Nomalanga Msebele confirmed that local police asked for the involvement of the Department of Social Welfare and the Nkayi RDC for the safe return of the children to their legal guardian back.
Insp Msebele appealed to parents and guardians to know the whereabouts of children at all times.
Mr Ncube said the Nkayi community is grateful for the assistance of Nkayi RDC officials and the Social Welfare
Department for acting swiftly and working closely with police in Bulawayo to reunite the children with their family.
“The Nkayi Community Parliament would like to thank the District Development Co-ordinator, Ms Matilda Mlotshwa and the Social Services Department for bringing the children back home safely. Everyone was worried when news started spreading that four kids ran away from home and were believed to be lost somewhere in Bulawayo,” he said.
He, however, said the living conditions of the children must be looked into in order to determine why they ran away from home.
“The kids have an aunt who lives in Bulawayo and the question that remains unanswered is what led them to run away from home in the first place. The older boy is 13 years old and does not go to school and that is very worrisome,” said Mr Ncube.
According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) millions of children across the globe are driven from their homes by conflict, poverty or climate change, while others do so in the hope of finding a better life.
