Cops need to probe ‘rent-a-kid’ abuse

It is heart-wrenching, for those of us fortunate to have homes or jobs – or both – seeing women begging on the side of the road, with their young children in tow.

Yet, it hurts even more to realise – according to an investigation by The Citizen – that at least one in five of these kids don’t belong to the woman begging and are merely “rented”, for about R100 a day.

This is but one manifestation of how begging has been taken over by criminal syndicates and has almost become an industry on our suburban streets. Worryingly, the cops say there is not much they can do – if a woman is there of her own free will – and many view begging as a viable alternative to employment – they cannot intervene.

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Yet, clearly, in the case of children, there must be some sort of investigation, because this is a form of child abuse: to keep a child in the open all day without adequate food, drink or toilet facilities … and in a dangerous place, like a traffic-clogged road.

Even in a country where so much needs to be tackled by law enforcement, surely this is one area where action needs to be taken.