South African border officials say they have intercepted a group of more than 440 unaccompanied children who had traveled from Zimbabwe.
The Border Management Authority (BMA) said the children, all aged under eight, traveled on dozens of buses on Saturday.
He added that he was without parents, guardians and the letters of permission required by law.
Reports say the children were visiting parents who work in South Africa.
On social media platform X, the BMA said officials βstopped and searched 42 buses at the Beitbridge border station and found approximately 443 children under the age of eight traveling without parents or guardians being trafficked into South Africa.
“We refused them entry and activated Zimbabwean officials to process them back to Zimbabwe.”
More than a million Zimbabweans live and work in South Africa and it is believed that the children were due to join their parents for the Christmas holidays.
However, the bus drivers told authorities the children were traveling to sporting events.
The president of the African Diaspora Forum, which represents foreign nationals living in South Africa, said some of the 443 children were traveling with their grandparents.
Ngqabutho Mabhena said on his YouTube channel that the parents of these children had contacted him with this information.
“That explains why on the Zimbabwean side of the border they were cleared,” he said.
Mr Mabhena urged Zimbabwean parents in South Africa not to let their children board buses unaccompanied or without proper paperwork.
He said: “Never give your children to a stranger… let’s be responsible parents and not put our children in a difficult position.”
South Africa has faced a surge in illegal immigrants entering the country through its northern border with Zimbabwe.
Immigration is one of South Africa’s most pressing political issues.
Border management has been disorganized and the government is under pressure to do more about the number of people coming into sub-Saharan Africa’s most developed country.