Women begging with children a challenge for authorities, welfare

Mothers begging on the roadside with children have become a common sight in many parts of Boksburg, where even newly born babies are subjected to the risk of being hit by passing vehicles and exposed to scorching temperatures.

Many people often ask what the government is doing about the people using children to solicit sympathy and attention from motorists. Others even accuse authorities of turning a blind eye to this practice.

The Advertiser interviewed the mothers and approached the EMPD, Boksburg Child Welfare and the Department of Social Development for comment on this concerning trend.

The response from all parties suggested that this problem is a huge challenge and they find it difficult to manage it due to limited resources.

They did, however, call for collective efforts by all the relevant stakeholders to establish a long-term solution.

EMPD: holistic approach needed
The EMPD admitted that it is aware of this begging practice on the city’s roadsides, and as law enforcers, they regularly take these mothers and their children to their respective police stations.

Other stakeholders are then requested to intervene.

“We do our part, but it’s a huge challenge because hours or days after removing them, the same women are found begging with their children on other street corners,” said EMPD spokesperson Kobeli Mokheseng.

Boksburg Child Welfare
According to Vanessa Naidoo-Pillay, director of the Boksburg Child Welfare, the challenge is a lack of resources and funding as working with street children needs to be a full-time project to achieve the long-term goal – street children and their families rehabilitated back into their communities.

“Our social service workers have recently been engaging with children accompanied by adults on the street,” she said.

“One of the alarming findings is that many of the mothers who beg with their children on the street do not reside in Boksburg – they are dropped off in Boksburg from Johannesburg to beg on the streets and then return to Johannesburg at the end of the day.

“They are mostly undocumented foreign nationals. We have not received many reported cases in the areas we service; however, we did recently receive a donation from a private company to help street children and a short-term intervention programme has been developed.”

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Rights
Social service workers have reported that many of the adults and children beg mainly at the intersections leading to highways and malls as these roads are busy and that this practice is more prevalent in warm weather.

“In the past, mothers of children with South African documentation were assisted with social grants to prevent them from being on the streets.

“Support and educational services were rendered as many mothers did not know the risks their children may be exposed to or the rights of children,” Naidoo-Pillay said.

Her view is the situation calls for long-term interventions to be established and provided to street children and their families.

“A redistribution of resources needs to occur to ensure programmes are established to work directly with street children in this area so they can be reunified into their community.

“Children who beg on streets on their own are at risk and mothers who use their children to beg or the children who are unsafe while their mother is begging could be subjected to harmful circumstances. This could lead to the child being found in need of care and protection in terms of the Children’s Act 38 of 2005,” Naidoo-Pillay said.

“Mothers who beg on the street with children of school-going age and who are not at school are also infringing upon the child’s right to education.”

Bread
Boksburg Child Welfare has been conducting intakes and risk assessment for families with children begging on the street and has referred it to the relevant organisations rendering services in the area.

When a case is reported, a social worker conducts a site visit and assessments to identify if early intervention services can be rendered or if the child needs care and protection and needs to be removed.

“In most cases, we have given out loaves of bread as it is difficult to engage and gain information from hungry people. We also plan on distributing masks, sanitisers and other items where needed.”

Way of life
Naidoo-Pillay said undocumented foreign nationals begging on the streets require the government’s intervention as this has become a means of making a living.

“The goal is always to preserve family life in all interventions conducted. All stakeholders need to work together,” she explained. “In some cases, the mothers return to the streets after they were taken to shelters or centres.

“They have become accustomed to this way of life – no rules, no chores, etc. It’s also because they can make money so easily on the streets.”

The public can report mothers begging with their children to organisations rendering child protection services in their area.

“They must try not to scare them off as in the past we have received reports and when the social workers were sent out they did not find anyone,” Naidoo-Pillay said.

“Most people have mixed feelings about the situation – some may feel helplessness, guilt, sadness. Our view is that it is better to give them something to eat than to give them money.”

Gauteng Department of Social Development
Spokesperson Feziwe Ndwayana said municipal by-laws dictate beggars are not allowed to be on the streets.

The Children’s Act 38/ 2005 Section 150(f) states “a child in need of care and protection is a child who lives in or exposed to circumstances which may seriously harm that child’s physical, mental or social well-being”.

“It is also violating the children’s constitutional right to education. Children are to resume school from early childhood for necessary development. Section 91 of the same Act defines early childhood as a process of emotional, cognitive, sensory, spiritual, moral, physical, social and communication development of children from birth to school-going age,” said Ndwayana.

“Poverty could be the main factor as mothers are unemployed and struggling to maintain their families. Most are foreign nationals in the country illegally.

“We have a challenge at the N12 off-ramp into Rondebult Road and even further down towards Boksburg CBD at various intersections.”

Violated
He pointed out some of the ways children of beggars’ rights are violated:
• They are exposed to circumstances that may harm their well-being and are deprived of age appropriate stimulation.
• They are forever carried on their mothers’ back and exposed to harsh weather conditions, thus deprived of any form of stimulation.
• This could be a human trafficking syndicate, wherein mothers are forced to beg.
Ndwayana said relevant stakeholders must work together to intervene in a dignified manner.
“The department tried to act in the previous years but was interdicted by the High Court as the children were in the care of their mothers; therefore, the removals were found to be illegal.
“In Boksburg, the social workers tried to intervene, but these mothers were not willing to cooperate and do not share any or relevant information.
“Some of these beggars are very rude and would often claim they have a right to stand anywhere and no one will remove their children from their care.”

Challenges
• Most are undocumented.
• There is a communication barrier.
• The mothers are not cooperative and refuse assistance.
“The EMPD, SAPS, DHA and social development also need to come on board and intervene accordingly. EMPD and the SAPS must be be visible at hot spots,” Ndwayana said.

He agreed that these mothers who beg are not willing to adhere to a routine of a shelter or centre as they are used to doing as they please without proper routines and can make quick money on the street, as opposed to as part of a shelter.

“Fathers can only be involved where there is an active case, and in cases where there is cooperation, the department institutes family reunification process. The public is encouraged to report cases of women begging with children to the SAPS, EMDP and social workers.”

Beggars
The Advertiser spoke to one of the families who beg daily on North Rand Road in front of the K90 Centre.
Zimbabwan national Siboniso Mguwe (36), who is a mother of three, said she begs with her children from 8am until 6pm daily regardless of weather conditions.

Mguwe said she’s been begging on the streets of Boksburg for the past six years, and it’s a lifestyle that has been working for her because she manages to put food on the table for her children.

One child is 17, another is seven and then there is also a baby, who is only six months old. She travels from Johannesburg to Boksburg and back by taxi with the children daily.

In a surprising revelation, the mother claims that with the little she receives on the streets (about R200 a day on a good day), she manages to pay her R800 rent in a residential area in Johannesburg, feed her family, and pay R600 monthly school fees for one child.

Another child has just dropped out of school due to a lack of money to pay fees.

“We are forced to sit on the street to get something to survive with as we have been struggling to find a job.
“This life is alright because at least drivers give us food, clothing and money. We arrive here without food but always go back with something to eat,” explained Mguwe.

When asked about the risks involved when begging on busy roads, she said: “We are scared of corona, but we need to make a living. We also want to live in a proper place but we have no choice. I believe one day things will get better.”

Mguwe’s three children are from two different absent fathers.

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