The parents of a five-year-old KwaZulu-Natal boy breathed a sigh of relief when they were reunited with their son after being put out of a taxi.

The grade R pupil boarded a taxi home from Canelands, Verulam to Cottonlands after school. While in the taxi, he was told by the driver that he did not have the fare to pay for his trip and was dumped on the roadside in Canelands.

Residents of Station Park in Canelands found the boy crying on the side of the road and alerted Reaction Unit South Africa (Rusa) who then attempted to locate the child’s family.

The distraught boy was unable to provide any information regarding the location of his home, which school he attended or his parents’ details.

Rusa put out a call for help in locating on social media and thankfully, his family was located a few hours later.

South Africans took to the Rusa social media pages to express their anger at the taxi driver and their appreciation for Rusa’s efforts to reunite the child with his family.