MZANSI border officials are dealing with an increase in undocumented foreigners entering the country through the northern border.
Officials at the border between South Africa and Zimbabwe report that they have apprehended more than 440 youngsters travelling alone from Zimbabwe.
According to the Border Management Authority (BMA), the children, who are all younger than eight years old, travelled on numerous buses on Saturday, 2 December.
It further stated they lacked the legally needed permission documents, guardians, and parents.
According to reports, the kids were visiting parents who work in Mzansi.
The BMA posted on social media site X (previously known as Twitter) that authorities "found approximately 443 children under the age of eight who were travelling without parents or guardians being trafficked into South Africa after stopping and searching 42 buses at the Beitbridge border post".
"We denied them entry and activated the Zimbabwean officials to process them back into Zimbabwe."
There are more than a million Zimbabweans who work and reside in South Africa, where it is thought, the kids were planning to spend Christmas with their parents.
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The kids were on their way to athletic competitions, the bus drivers claimed to the authorities.
According to the chairman of the Africa Diaspora Forum, Ngqabutho Mabhena, a portion of the 443 youngsters were travelling with their grandparents.
Ngqabutho said on his YouTube channel that he had received this information from the parents of these kids.
He pleaded with South African parents of Zimbabwean descent to prevent their kids from travelling on buses alone or without the required documentation.
"This explains why on the Zimbabwean side of the border, they were cleared.
"Never give your children to strangers," he urged.
"As responsible parents, let's avoid placing our kids in challenging circumstances."
In October, President Cyril Ramaphosa launched a new border force to cut illegal immigration from Zimbabwe and other countries.
The inauguration took place in Musina, home to the busy Beitbridge border post with Zimbabwe.
Ramaphosa said increasing numbers of undocumented foreign nationals had "exacerbated many of the country's social and economic problems".
