When a hungry 16-year-old who had not eaten for days timidly came to Maluti Police Station in the Eastern Cape to beg for food, the police officers on duty did not just give him a meal.

They also “adopted” him and now the boy, who has been abandoned by his parents and lost all his caregivers in the past few years, is under the fierce protection of Colonel Pam Mdluli and her officers, who are working every day to make his life better.

Maluti Police Station is 240km from Mthatha and 13km from Matatiele. Mdluli normally has her hands full with criminals and has 118 officers stationed here to police the large rural area.

But apart from her day job, she and her officers have also been focusing on saving one child at a time by stopping them from stealing because they are hungry.

Matatiele rural area. (Photo: Wikipedia)

“Each one we can help will not have to turn to crime because they are hungry. You lose them after that, so we make sure it doesn’t happen. I want to make sure that we do not create criminals here,” she said.

So, when a starving child recently arrived at her crime prevention centre, her officers knew what to do.

On 18 September at about 11 am, the young teenager from Maluti High School walked into the police station. He told the officers that he had not eaten for days.

Sergeant Ezile Nxitywa and Constable Noluyolo Gushana said that they saw the timid expression on his face.

They discovered that he and his brother, who is now 20, were abandoned by their parents when they were very young. They were put in the care of their grandmother, but she died. Then they were sent to their aunt, but she died too.

From left: Constable Noluyolo Gushana and Sergeant Ezile Nxitywa from the Maluti SAPS. (Picture: Supplied)

“Since then, the two brothers [have been] in a dire situation and had to fend for themselves. The older brother left school in order to take care of both of them,” she said.

Nxitywa said that when they went with the boy to his house there was no food there.

“We were shocked,” Mdluli said.

“This is a very cold place,” she added. “Because they are living in the grandmother’s house, they at least have some blankets to keep them warm.”

Touched by the boys’ plight, the South African Police Service (SAPS) members bought food for them with their own money.

“We have ‘adopted’ them now,” Mdluli said. Nxitywa said they visited often to make sure the boys were doing well.

“We are determined to provide the boys with more than just a meal,” Mdluli added.

She said she was worried that the younger boy no longer had a school uniform that he could wear.

“That child is not doing well. I am hoping we can find him a uniform and shoes so that he will feel better about going to school,” she said.

Over the days that followed, the police officers became surrogate parents to these two young boys and immediately started a drive to collect food parcels for them. Police spokesperson Priscilla Naidu said Mdluli had also undertaken to support the younger boy so that he could finish high school.

“The police officials also involved the Department of Social Development, which pledged their support by providing food parcels every month, depending on the availability. The department also committed to looking into their social grants and the issue of their parents,” she said.

Maluti SAPS station commander Pam Mdluli. (Photo: Supplied)

Mdluli said they discovered that the child support grant for the younger child was paid to an aunt in Cape Town and she usually sent it to him. But there had been problems recently.

Read more in Daily Maverick: How to apply for Sassa grants for children without birth certificates

“This story is a shining example of the incredible work being done by the police officers at SAPS Maluti,” Naidu said.

“They didn’t just uphold the law that day — they upheld the principles of kindness, compassion and humanity. They went beyond their duty to provide comfort, hope and a new beginning to two children who had lost everything.

“The police officers also committed to ensuring that monthly contributions will be [made] until their social grants are finalised by Social Development,” she added.

Alfred Nzo district commissioner Major General Nompumelelo Majikijela, on hearing of the acts of compassion and humility by the men and women in blue at SAPS Maluti, commended the station commander and her members.

“Through actions such as this, we can all take inspiration and strive to make our communities better, one act of kindness at a time. [This] has given us a beautiful example of what it truly means to serve and protect.

“In a world sometimes plagued by division and mistrust, it’s stories like these that remind us of the potential for goodness that exists within every one of us.

“The officers at the station have shown us that, even in the toughest of circumstances, love and compassion can prevail, and a community can come together to make a difference,” said Majikijela. DM

This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R29.