The two Zimbabwean toddlers, Pappa John (5) and Themba Malingisi (4), who were found abandoned in a bushy area near Musina by members of the SANDF, have finally been reunited with their parents in Beitbridge.

The two children were part of a group of illegal immigrants who had been smuggled into the country through Beitbridge border post by informal cross-border transport operators, commonly known as omalayitsha, on Saturday last week.

The toddlers were brought back to Zimbabwe in the company of officials from the Provincial Department of Social Development in Polokwane on Friday, 31 August.

There were tears of joy as the two boys were reunited with their parents soon after they were handed over to the Zimbabwean Department of Social Services in Beitbridge. "I can’t believe that I have finally been reunited with my child after all this anxiety. I feel much more relieved now because initially I thought something evil had happened to the children," said Ms Malingisi, Themba’s mother.

Pappas’s mother, Ms John, was equally on cloud nine and she was all smiles as she cradled her son.

"This is wonderful and I am so happy to meet with my boy who I thought had been killed along the way," she said.

SAPS police spokeswoman for Limpopo province Supt Ronel Otto said: "These two kids were among a group of illegal immigrants from Zimbabwe, who then fled, leaving behind the two children after they saw SANDF members patrolling along the borderline near Musina".

The soldiers then took the children to the Musina Police Station before they were later transferred to a government child centre in Polokwane.

Of late there has been an increase in the number of unaccompanied children from the neighbouring country being smuggled into South Africa through Beitbridge border post by omalayitsha who bribe both Zimbabwean and South African police and immigration officials manning the border area.