The suffering endured by four destitute children whose mother abandoned them in their mud house in Kgomola village, near Lichtenburg, has been temporarily alleviated.

The suffering endured by four destitute children whose mother abandoned them in their mud house in Kgomola village, near Lichtenburg, has been temporarily alleviated.

The Department of Social Development has removed the poverty-stricken kids to a place of safety. Officials have promised to help them live in a homely environment and to enrol them at school.

The children's plight was highlighted in Sowetan when we reported that one of them, aged 11, prostituted herself to men for money to support her siblings, one of whom is epileptic.

The Department of Social Development must be commended for their swift action in helping these desperate kids.

The children will be kept at a safety centre until January next year while their mother is being counselled.

But it is important that official intervention be accompanied by a sustainable solution that will ensure that these children do not ever again experience what happened to them in the past.

Surely they cannot be taken back to the same mud house where they suffered abject poverty.

We are humbled by the response from our readers who have pledged to help the family.

We urge the department of Social Development to seek a better home and environment where these children can attend school and enjoy a better life.