Vagrants plague CBD
Businesses are now calling on the police to resolve the matter.
BUSINESSES in the Scottburgh CBD are furious that nothing is being done about the vagrants.
Last week, the Mail was alerted to a group of vagrants who sleep in front of a business, become intoxicated and then damage business property.
The manager of the business concerned said that it was not the first time. “It is time that something gets done,” she said, adding that it is she who had to clean up the mess every morning.
Mondays are the worst, she said, explaining that apart from the damage to the branded windows, she was left to remove cigarette butts and alcohol bottles before clients arrive.
“I went back to the office one evening last week and found one of the vagrants sleeping in front of the entrance,” she said. “I contacted our security company, which didn’t even bother to show up. One of my clients, however, miraculously appeared out of nowhere and the vagrant only then scurried off.”
Other businesses in the CBD were asked whether they had had a run-in with the vagrants.
“We’ve had a few incidents in which some would sleep on the steps. Sometimes, when they eat or drink they leave behind a mess ,” said one business owner.
An employee at another business confirmed this, adding that one of the vagrants was a regular drug user who often came begging for money.
“They really prey on a person’s emotions. One day he (the vagrant) asked how I would feel if I had no food or home and had to sleep on the streets. He then proceeded to demand money from me.”
Business owners are now asking that the police step in to assist with removing vagrants from the area, even though according to the bylaws, vagrants were supposed to be dealt with by the municipality.
Scottburgh SAPS communications officer Captain Vincent Pandarum previously warned the public not to provide vagrants with money as it would not just attract more, but would also motivate them to stay in the area.
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