The Department of Social Development says a one-year-old child of a South African woman who was born in a Senegalese prison has arrived in the country.

The Department’s social workers arrived with the child this morning.

The mother was arrested for drug trafficking last year and gave birth to the child a few days after her incarceration.

The Department says the child will be taken into the care of her grandmother in the Eastern Cape, where they will continue to provide protection and support to the family.

Government has over the past nine years repatriated 21 distressed children from foreign countries.

Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu says the best interest of the child remains their top priority.

Zulu says, “Being involved in drug trafficking both inside and outside of South Africa remains a crime. We call on all our communities to work with us as a government, not just the Department of Social Development, to end drug trafficking because it is too costly for the country.”

Source: SABC News