Pretoria - The SAPS, Metro Police, Health and Social Services took to the streets of Pretoria on Friday, seeking out children who were being exploited and begging at robots, offering them instead a place of safety.
Officials from the various departments, with the help of Bikers Against Child Abuse, patrolled the streets of Pretoria, stopping at various intersections to speak to the adults and children begging there.
Social workers approached mothers with babies at various intersections, children and teenagers, and convinced them to leave the streets and instead be taken to places of safety in Pretoria and Soshanguve.
A Mozambican man, who had his toddler daughter on his lap as he repaired shoes on the side of the road, also caught the attention of officials.
The man told social workers that his wife was in hospital and there was no one else to care for his daughter.
Social workers reassured him that the child would be cared for at a place of safety and once his wife was well enough he could collect the child.
After filling in the necessary documents, he reluctantly let social workers take his daughter.
Two Zimbabwean women, with four children between them, were also ushered off the streets.
A 13-year-old boy who had been living on the side of a road with friends since his mother died last year was also taken to a place of safety.
In Garsfontein, police approached two 17-year-old boys begging at an intersection.
One of them told police and social workers that his mother had died four years ago and he had not been to school since.
His friend had a similar story, telling officials he had to leave school because he did not have money for a school uniform or food. Both were taken to places of safety.
Station Commander of the Garsfontein Police Station, Colonel Anneline Steyn said the operation targeted children in particular, because they would be the ones to take the country forward.
"We don't want to see kids standing on street corners. They are our future. We need to take care of them and ensure that they are safe," she said.
Steyn added the aim of the operation was "not to cause trouble but to execute a duty we've neglected for a long time".
Teddy Gomba, spokesman for the Gauteng Department of Health and Social Development, said the primary objective of the operation was to protect the children.
"We are obliged in terms of the law to protect children from exploitation and from adults using children for financial gain by begging on street corners. We want to ensure that the children get to a place of safety where they can go to school and get properly fed," he said.
Gomba added while it may be traumatic to take the child away from the adult, social workers would immediately "debrief" the child at a place of safety.
