A Ticking Time Bomb
“A Ticking Time Bomb”: Homeless Children In Cape Town
William Bush
Photos:
1cpt: L to R: Lwandile age 9, Collin Josan age 7, Jonathan (back row ) age10 and Arthur11.
2cpt: Collin looks on unabashedly as Arthur tends to the daily chores: looting public payphones.
3cpt: An unidentified child stares at reporters bewilderedly as Collin loots the payphone.
(Please check spelling of Constantia and Trans Vaal).
On a recent afternoon, in a heavily CID patrolled area, a gang of homeless children went about their daily task of looting public payphones. The CapeTowner was able to catch them in the act, as it occurred right outside of the Newspaper House, in the center of St. George’s Mall.
The children could barely remember how to spell their own names and had to write them to be sure. But they knew how to count: “We get about fifty rand a day from the phones. And we get more from begging. Sometimes one or two hundred,” said Arthur, age 11.
The children spoke of burglarizing the payphones as if it was all in a day’s work, nothing more and nothing less. “Just put something in (the coin slot) and hit it (the change return lever) and then it just comes out,” Arthur said as the others nodded. Their tool of choice that day was a worn takkie.
These group of four industrious but delinquent children- only doing as they normally did to survive- ranged in age from 7 to 12 and comprise only a small fraction of the estimated hundreds of children living day-to-day on the streets of central Cape Town. According to John Philmon, Coordinator of the “Feeding Project” at St. George’s Cathedral, “We see about 200 kids everyday. New kids come in but we’ve got your regulars as well…they are between the ages of 8 and 18.”
In the aftermath of the brutal killing of 17 year old Xolani Jodwana of Langa, outside of Teazers nightclub in the CBD, The CapeTowner obtained an exclusive interview with a spokesperson for the nightclub. This spokesperson is the brother of Michael Jackson of Bloubergstrand, Xolani’s alleged killer.
In a telephone interview, Lolly Jackson of Trans Vaal, national owner of Teazers, offered remorse for the tragedy as well a foreboding warning for the citizens of Cape Town. “I’m sorry for what’s happened but afterward everyone made these street kids out to be innocent victims. It’s a pity what happened but they’re not ‘poor little street kids’, they’re little crooks. And you’ve got to get the point across that they’re criminals. As I said, it’s unfortunate it happened and unfortunate that it happened outside of Teazers but it can happen to anyone anywhere. These kids are a ticking time bomb,” he said.
Mr Jackson questioned the level of commitment from CBD businesses and local government to resolving the perilous problem of child homelessness. “The authorities are not going to do anything about it and Cape Towners like to say ‘what a shame it is that this poor street kid got killed’ but they go hide in their Constantia homes and cry ‘shame, shame, shame’. Why don’t they do something about it?
The Mayor of Cape Town, Noma India Mfeketho, is reported to be unveiling a new initiative to eradicate child homelessness in the city within a year. The Mayor’s office did not return our phone calls nor did they issue a statement detailing the plan by the time we went to press. But Mr Philmon feels he has ideas on where the Mayor could start. “She can start first with education and rehabilitation- we must try and put something in place to take their minds off their present situation. The Mayor must do more than just send a few spokespersons to study NGO’s or record them for a day. The way you treat them is with respect; show them respect and they will respect you” he said.
But Mr Jackson, sensing the urgency of this situation, is calling for more assertive action:
“Why don’t you (Cape Town) do something? Everyone asks ‘what can we do?’ Why don’t you look at the root of the problem- theses kids are starving and living on the streets; we must do something about this. I apologize to the family of the kid but this is (expletive). Everyone wants us to apologize for something that went completely wrong.
It’s a pity what happened to this kid and a pity my brother was involved. But people need to understand that these kids are so sharp- they can look and see who is not from Cape Town and then they pounce on you. One day, some guy from outside- Some guy from the United States- has a bad day, a kid will get hit and die. What’s the difference (in the two situations)? And who’s really to blame?”
In the final analysis, there may be enough blame for all to share. Local government only now acknowledges the issue, while hundreds of children- many with tuberculosis- sleep out in the cold, in the shadow of Parliament. Local citizens refuse to mobilize and act, seeing the street kids simply as public nuisances to be ignored, much like rotting piles of rubbish. Local businesses and visitors, fed up with being harassed by “glue-sniffing thieves” are beginning to take matters into their own hands.
It seems the lethal combination of children and homelessness may indeed be a ticking time bomb. And if that is the case, the question is not “will tragedy ever happen” but “when”.
William Bush
Photos:
1cpt: L to R: Lwandile age 9, Collin Josan age 7, Jonathan (back row ) age10 and Arthur11.
2cpt: Collin looks on unabashedly as Arthur tends to the daily chores: looting public payphones.
3cpt: An unidentified child stares at reporters bewilderedly as Collin loots the payphone.
(Please check spelling of Constantia and Trans Vaal).
On a recent afternoon, in a heavily CID patrolled area, a gang of homeless children went about their daily task of looting public payphones. The CapeTowner was able to catch them in the act, as it occurred right outside of the Newspaper House, in the center of St. George’s Mall.
The children could barely remember how to spell their own names and had to write them to be sure. But they knew how to count: “We get about fifty rand a day from the phones. And we get more from begging. Sometimes one or two hundred,” said Arthur, age 11.
The children spoke of burglarizing the payphones as if it was all in a day’s work, nothing more and nothing less. “Just put something in (the coin slot) and hit it (the change return lever) and then it just comes out,” Arthur said as the others nodded. Their tool of choice that day was a worn takkie.
These group of four industrious but delinquent children- only doing as they normally did to survive- ranged in age from 7 to 12 and comprise only a small fraction of the estimated hundreds of children living day-to-day on the streets of central Cape Town. According to John Philmon, Coordinator of the “Feeding Project” at St. George’s Cathedral, “We see about 200 kids everyday. New kids come in but we’ve got your regulars as well…they are between the ages of 8 and 18.”
In the aftermath of the brutal killing of 17 year old Xolani Jodwana of Langa, outside of Teazers nightclub in the CBD, The CapeTowner obtained an exclusive interview with a spokesperson for the nightclub. This spokesperson is the brother of Michael Jackson of Bloubergstrand, Xolani’s alleged killer.
In a telephone interview, Lolly Jackson of Trans Vaal, national owner of Teazers, offered remorse for the tragedy as well a foreboding warning for the citizens of Cape Town. “I’m sorry for what’s happened but afterward everyone made these street kids out to be innocent victims. It’s a pity what happened but they’re not ‘poor little street kids’, they’re little crooks. And you’ve got to get the point across that they’re criminals. As I said, it’s unfortunate it happened and unfortunate that it happened outside of Teazers but it can happen to anyone anywhere. These kids are a ticking time bomb,” he said.
Mr Jackson questioned the level of commitment from CBD businesses and local government to resolving the perilous problem of child homelessness. “The authorities are not going to do anything about it and Cape Towners like to say ‘what a shame it is that this poor street kid got killed’ but they go hide in their Constantia homes and cry ‘shame, shame, shame’. Why don’t they do something about it?
The Mayor of Cape Town, Noma India Mfeketho, is reported to be unveiling a new initiative to eradicate child homelessness in the city within a year. The Mayor’s office did not return our phone calls nor did they issue a statement detailing the plan by the time we went to press. But Mr Philmon feels he has ideas on where the Mayor could start. “She can start first with education and rehabilitation- we must try and put something in place to take their minds off their present situation. The Mayor must do more than just send a few spokespersons to study NGO’s or record them for a day. The way you treat them is with respect; show them respect and they will respect you” he said.
But Mr Jackson, sensing the urgency of this situation, is calling for more assertive action:
“Why don’t you (Cape Town) do something? Everyone asks ‘what can we do?’ Why don’t you look at the root of the problem- theses kids are starving and living on the streets; we must do something about this. I apologize to the family of the kid but this is (expletive). Everyone wants us to apologize for something that went completely wrong.
It’s a pity what happened to this kid and a pity my brother was involved. But people need to understand that these kids are so sharp- they can look and see who is not from Cape Town and then they pounce on you. One day, some guy from outside- Some guy from the United States- has a bad day, a kid will get hit and die. What’s the difference (in the two situations)? And who’s really to blame?”
In the final analysis, there may be enough blame for all to share. Local government only now acknowledges the issue, while hundreds of children- many with tuberculosis- sleep out in the cold, in the shadow of Parliament. Local citizens refuse to mobilize and act, seeing the street kids simply as public nuisances to be ignored, much like rotting piles of rubbish. Local businesses and visitors, fed up with being harassed by “glue-sniffing thieves” are beginning to take matters into their own hands.
It seems the lethal combination of children and homelessness may indeed be a ticking time bomb. And if that is the case, the question is not “will tragedy ever happen” but “when”.
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