A clean Joburg with more desperate people

The operation will see unmarked police vehicles removing beggars, pamphlet distributors and the homeless from intersections across Joburg. One of the motivations is that it is suspected some of these people inform criminals down the line of valuables in cars. The operation would also make it an infringement of the law for motorists to give money or goods to beggars standing at intersections. Said motorists could receive a fine for trying to do what they feel is needed.

I am the first to admit that I hate stopping at traffic lights in Joburg. Just about every intersection has someone asking you for a handout and claiming they have no food, no job, no money… it upsets me that I can’t help everyone and, for the most part, I will admit, I don’t comply with their requests, but that is my choice – I prefer to give to charities I support. However, what the City aims to do is to criminalise motorists’ good will.

To be honest, I don’t know whether I am for or against this new operation. Yes, our streets will look beautiful if the operation is a success, but where are these people going to go? Unemployment is so high and these people have, for the last few years, managed to put food on the table as a result of their begging… now how are they going to do this?

Are we going to find more beggars outside shopping centres and in parking areas because they are forced off the streets? Just because we are planning to move them from point A to point B, does not mean the problem goes away.

Yes, it would be great to drive around with my windows open, not worrying about someone next to my car who might think he or she needs my cellphone more than I do, but in the same breath – these people might be forced into a life of crime, as their begging is no longer possible.

What measures have been put in place to assist the beggars of Joburg once they have been removed from the streets and how is this operation going to affect crime and our already-swamped soup kitchens?

I applaud the City of Johannesburg for their efforts to clean up Joburg and for being proactive, however, this is not a quick fix. This is not a solution to South Africa’s problems. This is an out of sight, out of mind idea – there needs to be a long term solution.

* In last week’s column, I mentioned an incident where s husband shot his wife and turned the gun on himself. I said this happened at the Rosebank Police Station when in fact it occurred at the Parkview Police Station. I apologise for the error.