Clean-up initiative tackles Groendam vagrancy
Vagrants consistently return to the areas after authorities complete their operations.
The Tshwane metro and Ward 1 councillor Leon Kruyshaar have responded to complaints about vagrancy at Groendam and local streets Van Der Hoff Road and Moot Street with a clean-up.
Kruyshaar said the clean-up took place on a cold September 20 morning and ran into the afternoon.
“It lasts a few days and they [vagrants] are back again. This is private property, they are not supposed to be here and they know that. I’ve warned them on numerous occasions, almost every day, I tell them that the property belongs to the city and they can’t set up structures. So we have to remove them,” said Kruyshaar.
“If we give up now, what’s the point of all the work done before? We need to keep going until we claim our neighbourhood back,” he stressed.
The teams brought out a hi-pressure cleaning truck to clean up outside some of the stores on Moot Street and Van Der Hoff Road where vagrants are known to sleep and in some instances use as ablution facilities.
The Groendam has been cleaned up on numerous occasions this year, said Kruyshaar but the vagrants are back to their usual activities.
The vagrants are said to recycle goods at the Groendam, separating what they can sell and burning the rest on the field.
Kruyshaar also called out NPOs and charitable organisations that distribute food to the vagrants in the area, saying that though it’s an admirable act, more regulation is needed.
“I’ll be putting out a formal request to the city to start controlling organisations that hand out food to people. I know it’s an admirable thing to do for your fellow man but at the very same time we’re drawing these crowds to our area, this is what they tell me, they get food, so why wouldn’t they be here?
“We need to stop giving food and when we do, we need to control how it’s given and to who it’s given. I know some may not like this but that’s how it’s got to be,” Kruyshaar said.
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