The presence of vagrants or displaced persons in and around the suburbs has been a long and insidious nuisance to the community.
Carol Doubell takes the bus along Oxford Road and has, over the years, observed the “resident” homeless man lodging under the bus stop.
“Most people avoid him, so we stand as far away from the bus stop as possible, even in the rain… he builds fires to keep warm and is usually quite out of it, sometimes there are bottles lying around him. There is also another vagrant [who wanders] Killarney and he is usually quite aggressive,” she said.
Sergeant Bongi Mdletshe of the Rosebank Police Station concedes that vagrants are a big problem in the district, citing in particular a group that lingers around the corner of Oxford and Bolton avenues.
“We can only help the people who want to be helped,” said Mdletshe, noting that they cannot be unlawfully arrested and that on occasion vagrants are both the victims and perpetrators of crime.
James Swann, head of operations for Urban Genesis, a company dedicated to city improvement districts, has extensive experience in dealing with displaced persons in Rosebank, Parkwood and Parkview.
“It’s a process [to rid an area of vagrants],” he explained, “We work with social workers in the displacement unit, we try to be as humane as possible, if the person is willing we will try to help them change their life… But some people are too far gone.”
He pointed out that in some cases vagrants are heavily involved in drugs, in which case the only viable option is to work with the police to enforce the law.
Swann referred to a well-run government-sponsored shelter on 3 Kotze Street in Hillbrow, where displaced people are treated with dignity and offered a meal and bed for the night, citing that the problematic vagrants in the area are the ones who don’t want help.
“Then the only way… is to stay persistent and get more people involved in surrounding areas [to force them out],” he said.
