Begging fines lashed

Recent reports that Windhoek authorities will start to fine beggars and loiterers N$500 based on an existing bylaw to combat loitering or begging on streets has been met with criticism and concern in some quarters, while praised by others. “The criminalisation of loitering and begging has always applied disproportionately against poor people. “We have a massive social problem at hand, and we need a more compassionate response other using the might and force of criminal law,” lawyer and human rights activist Norman Tjombe told Namibian Sun last week. He also warned that many beggars or loiters are children or teenagers which poses additional risks and raises questions about human rights. “The incarceration of children, essentially because they are poor, is a very serious human rights issue. N$500 as a fine for loitering or begging is exorbitant. This will not be afforded by the very people it targets, who often beg for food or money as little as N$2. Further, children must not be incarcerated. That's just wrong.”City Police spokesperson Cillie Auala told Namibian Sun that loitering and begging at intersections “is extremely dangerous toward both the loiterer as well as motorists.”Several incidents of beggars, especially children and teenagers sustaining injures after motorists crash into them, have been reported in recent years. Auala added that loitering can cause obstruction to the traffic and pedestrians.She added that motorists have also reported confrontations when some children or adults who “become violent if motorists don't give them small change, which can potentially be dangerous to the safety of motorists.”The municipal regulation on loitering dates to 1930, she explained, and is being revived to stem these issues as well as increased criminal activities. “In areas where there is increased loitering, property crimes tend also to increase. We particularly have observed this in areas with an increased number of job seekers, who mostly loiter at intersections. Crimes such as theft and housebreaking are at times influenced by loiterers and beggars.”She warned that in some cases loiterers are “thieves waiting for the right opportunity to steal.” Scarring Tjombe said children are primarily on the streets because of poverty and imposing a fine of N$500 will “ensure that we send more and more children to prison, where they will become hardened criminals. When they come out of prison, they will no longer beg for money, but forcibly rob or steal the money or worse.”Auala however assured Namibian Sun that the City will reach out to relevant stakeholders to assist when children are caught loitering or begging, including the police's women and child protection unit and the ministries of justice and gender.She said several stakeholders need to “come on board in order to reach a permanent solution.”She further urged motorists to refrain from giving money to street beggars “as this only encourages them to return for more.”A study conducted by the University of Namibia, Namibian Sun reported on in 2016, shows that many children seen on the streets are driven from their homes by poverty, abuse, food insecurity and related factors. For those who have survived on the street for longer periods, their integration into street 'families', make it difficult to reintegrate into conventional home settings.Once on the streets, the children join street gangs and form strong social bonds which they lack at home.Many of the street children contributed towards their family finances but regularly return to the streets as life there becomes preferable to conditions, mainly poverty related, at home.Although regularly rounded up by authorities and offered safe havens or returned home, they tend to return to the streets at the first opportunity. JANA-MARI SMITH

Begging fines lashed

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Namibian Sun 2025-07-03

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Begging fines lashed

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Namibian Sun 2025-07-03

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