MOTORISTS were urged not to give to beggars and vagrants in Durban at a talk given by Metro Police's Captain Motsamai Dingaan last Thursday.
The talk, which was hosted by LifeLong Learning, was very well attended by the community as well as councillors from various wards.
Capt Dingaan said the men living on the streets of Durban all came from other areas, surviving on the streets during the day, and sleeping in the parks at night.
He spoke of the difficulty authorities faced trying to prosecute these beggars and vagrants, as most of them had no ID or address.
“These cases are thrown out of court because of this. Section 18 of the Bill of Rights states people have the right of association and movement, which also makes it difficult to sentence a person,” he said.
Dingaan said police were aware that motorists were suffering and many had had their cars scratched by beggars, when they refused to give them money.
“People are terrified. The beggars at St Thomas Road are a problem and do this if they are not given handouts. I always tell people not to feed these beggars as they become conditioned to receiving a meal and will never move away. It is an incentive and is reinforcement. Motorists also run into risks as they don't know who is a begger or who is a criminal who might hijack you or smash your window. Please abstain from giving to them so Metro Police can concentrate on more serious issues,” he said.
Capt Dingaan does an outreach programme when off duty to try and understand the cause and the social background to these beggars being on the street. He said they each seemed to stay in the same place as they said they earned more on the streets, and had refused offers of employment.
“Mass feeding schemes such as in Berea Park and at churches deters us achieving our goals. It is a real problem as it overburdens the police. If you feed these people, they will always be there,” he said.
Dingaan has been involved in removing vagrants from parks in the area, and arrests the vagrants, documents them, and takes them back to their own areas.
“When you ask where these men come from, none of them say they are from Durban, or that they are homeless. They all have homes. It is not true that the police aren't doing enough, there needs to be a concerted effort from all stakeholders,” he said.
Councillor Nicole Graham said residents should rather donate to I Care than give to the homeless.
“The problem is there is no social strategy to deal with the homeless so it has become an enforcement issue. There is a low number of rehabilitation as people are being displaced instead of there being a proper social strategy. Feeding only exacerbates the problem. This is a general city and provincial problem. Safer Cities has applied for a R8 million grant for a shelter/rehab, however I think its too little too late,” she said.
Dingaan said if residents identified any person who was not supposed to be in an area, they should contact Metro Police.
