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conversation of the confrontation in the Airport security office is recorded by the children and
is available)
8. Since her father could not legally stop her from travelling, he once again confiscated her
passport, which still had a valid 3 months South African visa from her previous travel to SA
9. From this moment, Mimi resolved to seek refuge with friends and other families and seek
help to obtain papers to leave Burundi on her own.
10. She approached the UNCHR who registered her case but could not assist her as their
scope was limited to assisting refugees who were entering their Burundi seeking protection
from other countries. They did not have the ability to assist her to leave the country, but
given the seriousness of her case, they advised her to seek entry into the Democratic Republic
of Congo and advised her to contact the Congolese embassy in Bujumbura.
11. She was then advised she could be assisted to obtain a temporary Congolese passport. In
order to avoid the risk of alerting her father of the impending escape, she had to assume a
false name at the Uvira border, she was assisted with temporary travel documents to travel
into the Congo and present herself to the South African embassy and reveal her true identity
for assistance and protection.
12. Having concern for her destitute situation, and worried for her safety in a foreign country,
I had once again, in my individual capacity, written an assurance letter to the SA embassy in
the DRC to assist her in obtaining a visa so that she can travel to SA. In this regard she had
become a classical case for refugee assistance and protection.
13. She was however, arrested in the Congo on suspicion of holding a fraudulent document as
she couldnt speak French or any of the Congolese local languages.
14. This young, frail and vulnerable woman, known to my family and a friend of our
children, became destitute and vulnerable to further abuse, possibly even sexual harassment.
She was in detention for a total of 10 days.
15. It was also around this time that I was supposed to travel on official business for the 26th
AU summit in Addis Abba towards the end of January 2014. My delegation and I were also
due to meet with my counterpart in the DRC, in preparation for the Ministerial consultation
of countries dealing with the Great Lakes crisis, on the side of the AU summit.
16. Given this opportunity, after the meeting, I had brought the matter of Mimis plight to the
Minister to enquire if there is a way for her to be assisted.
17. The Minister in the DRC, then consulted the immigration office to enquire about her
circumstances, and was informed that she had not committed a crime and was only detained
to verify how she obtained a Congolese travel document and that they had concluded there
investigation in that regard. They also confirmed that my account of her circumstances
collaborated her written statement at the time of detention and that she could be released.
18. To avoid her being deported back to her country, I offered to take her with me and to
assist her in gaining her lawful travel documents. It is therefore completely misleading, as
reported by the Sunday Times, that I had organised a trip and assembled a delegation of
senior military and government officials, simply to travel to the Congo to illegally smuggle
a child. Mimi had been lawfully released by the Congolese government after my clarification
of her circumstances and the conclusion of their own investigation.
19. Fortunately Mimi had kept a copy of her passport with a South African Visa on a memory
stick, and it was through this document that she was able to travel with me to Addis Ababa
and return to South Africa, legally. Why the Sunday Times report chooses to claim that she
travelled with fraudulent documents, is beyond comprehension. The copy of this document is
also available.
20. She has since applied and obtained a study permit and enrolled at a college in South
Africa while living in my house.
21. Mimi is finally on a path of healing and living in conditions of safety and it is my hope
that she will find stability that will help to prepare her for a full and productive future life
22. Over this period, she has re-established contact with her family, and recently, we recently
also received a request from her father to meet with her, and with her consent advised that he
can come and see her at the house where she can be comfortable.
23. It is my hope that she can continue to study and complete her studies with our support and
that this will prepare her to be a stable and independent woman, when she finally leaves our
home on completion of her schooling.
24. I have no regrets in the actions that I have taken and my involvement in assisting this
child. I would never have been able to live with my conscience if something had happened to
her when I knew that I could have done something to help her. I believe it was the right thing
to do.
The Ministry will like to put it on record that the facts as presented above were given to the
Sunday Times reporter Mr Mzilikazi wa Afrika, who
[12:49, 2016/05/22] Peter Motloutsi: came with the editor-in-chief to interview the Minister
late Saturday afternoon.
The Ministry had initially recorded our concern with the Editor that, the Minister was only
informed at 14h00 that there is a story involving her that is being written for the following
day, and that they will want her response.
It was always our concern that such a last minute approach would jeopardise the integrity of
the story as, so close to the deadline, the story had already been written without the Ministers
side of the story, and that it would be difficult, at that late stage to rework the story to reflect
the truth, even after obtaining the facts. The sensational manner in which the report was
finally written, is a confirmation of our fears.
They had however insisted that they will go ahead with their own story and as a result the
interview was granted. The sensational headline for a front page story was however too
tempting for them to take the time to verify all the facts that have been given, including
contacting the UNHCR, the Immigration departments and Mimis family back home. Once
again, the truth suffered at the hands of unethical and unprofessional conduct of an
enthusiastic reporter yearning for bygone glory. This in violation of the Press Council code.
The Minister reserves all her rights in seeking recourse on this matter for her, her family,
including the protection of Mimi from abuse and harassment.
Issued by the Ministry of Defence and Military Veterans