How crime syndicates exploit children begging on the street

702 and CapeTalk’s Aubrey Masango speaks with Gail Elson, Marketing Manager for I Care and Anne Slatter, CEO of I Care.

Listen below:

There are few things more heartbreaking than seeing a child on the street begging for food, help or money.

Out of sympathy, many of us may have given them something, hoping to help them get into a better situation.

However, many of these children are actually victims of well-organised trafficking networks, making millions exploiting their innocence.

Nearly 700 children in eThekwini alone are believed to be caught in these operations.

These children are often traded, drugged, and abused, and do not keep a cent that is given to them by well-intentioned passersby.

Slatter says that in some cases, poverty-stricken families will ‘rent out’ their children for around R150 per day to these syndicates, who force them to beg for money.

This affects children as young as 18-months old, according to Elson.

“The children are used by syndicates, because you are going to be more sympathetic towards a child that is standing at a traffic light.”

- Anne Slatter, CEO of I Care

In other cases, the children may be living on the street and could be barred from returning to the place they sleep unless they give money to a gang leader.

Elson says that giving money to these children can encourage those exploiting them to stay in that area.

“We ask people to just give dignity… be polite to a street child, you do not have to treat them like vermin.”

- Gail Elson, Marketing Manager for I Care

I Care has outreach workers who go out daily to try and give these children a better future.

Their goal is to build a relationship with the children until they trust them enough to visit I Care’s hope centre.

At the centre they can get food, clean clothing, education, therapy and more.

After working with them for a few weeks, they will place them in an in-housing facility and help them build a better life.

Scroll up to the audio player for more.