Just beggar off, says Cape Town
If DA ward councillor Dave Bryant gets his way, beggars will be moved from tourist areas in Cape Town CBD to "begging zones". Bryant's proposed begging zones are similar to those introduced by the DA which restrict buskers to 10 spots around the city.Bryant has already established a team, which he chairs, to look for ways to curb "aggressive begging" in the CBD - even though some of his DA colleagues are opposed to some of his proposals.Begging is not against the law but "aggressive begging" is illegal in Cape Town in terms of a bylaw - Public Places and Prevention of Noise Nuisances of 2007. The bylaw defines aggressive begging as when a person continues to beg or follow someone after that person has "given a negative response".Beggars interviewed this week felt the city was targeting them unfairly instead of going after criminals.They said Bryant's idea would be difficult to implement and police.Cardo Daniels, 20, who "takes home" between R100 and R150 a day, said: "They can try to move them but they will not succeed."Sam Vos, director of U-turn, an organisation dealing with homeless people, said: "If the city proposes such bylaws [it would be] unconstitutional because people have got the right to freedom of movement."Minutes of a meeting of Bryant's team held in April show that it has considered requiring all beggars to carry identity documents, failing which they would be arrested in line with national legislation.The city is planning to rely on an existing crime-fighting municipal unit to police begging, if the idea is approved.Phindile Maxiti, a DA councillor who chairs Cape Town's Homeless Agency committee, under whose ambit issues related to begging fall, disagrees with his DA colleague.Maxiti said forcing beggars to carry IDs was controversial."We will never agree with something that takes us back to where people were told to carry a dompas."Bryant said the ID issue was only raised as a plan to help those beggars who did not have such documents. He added that the plan for begging zones was merely a discussion at this stage...
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