Homeless man’s plastic packets ‘bedding’ is a nuisance to Vryheid businessman

“IT is a problem to keep Vryheid clean with perished plastics flying around…” writes Johan Kruger. “Definitely not a good image for Vryheid’s tourism industry.”

And, with Vryheid’s tourism industry squarely in the spotlight in recent times, many will agree that he argues a valid point. As a Vryheid Tourism product holder and contributing business owner in Vryheid, Kruger’s point surely bears even more weight, doesn’t it?

The perished plastics Mr Kruger refers to are the ‘bedding’ of Vryheid’s most famous homeless man, Mduduzi Mkhabela, who used to occupy the space on the pavement at the Greyhound Bus Stop in President Street.

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Approximately three months ago, Mr Mkhabela relocated to his current spot in Church Street, arguably Vryheid’s busiest road and highly visible to tourists and visitors to the area. His new ‘residence’ is directly outside Mr Kruger’s fast food outlets and his presence there has become a proverbial thorn in the side of the business owner, who has approached him and requested that he move.

“He basically just told me that I can’t do anything about him being there because he’s on the pavement and not in my shop…” says Kruger, shaking his head in disbelief.

Kruger’s statement is confirmed when we visit with Mkhabela on an icy Monday evening in Church Street at the sign board that either very aptly, or possibly very inaptly, says “No chill…” outside of the popular fast food outlets where he has made himself at home.

We ask if he has been approached by the business owner and how he feels about Mr Kruger’s sentiments regarding his presence and he replies with the same perspective allegedly afforded to Kruger… “There’s nothing he can do. I’m not in his shop…”

Mkhabela explains how he left his previous location at the bus stop out of fear for his safety. Although he was moved from there numerous times by the long arm of the law, he says it was something far more sinister that led him to vacate the area voluntarily and take up residence in Church Street.

He describes the ghost of an old black man with a white beard, a killer, he states, who died long before Vryheid existed. He states he was threatened by the ghost and ordered to leave the bus stop or he would suffer the same fate as many before him.

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With winter’s icy grip taking hold, it’s difficult to imagine what it’s like to be out on the street. As a compassionate society, we sympathise with the homeless. But as citizens of a country with a floundering economy, we yearn to contribute to the betterment and upliftment of our town through tourism.

How do we find a middle ground when the two standpoints collide?