The big bucks of begging

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John Harvey A SURVEY by a trade union this week revealed that white beggars made on average R172 a day. The survey was conducted in Gauteng, the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. But that is a pittance compared with what they are able to make in Plettenberg Bay. Local Solidarity-affiliated programme Helping Hand officials Mariaan Mans and Adelle Wright dressed in tattered and filthy frocks and came away with R1 257 – in a matter of only three hours.

That amounts to R3 352 an eight-hour working day for a begging team of two people. Or R100 560 a month, which earns the team more than R1 million in a year.

Mans and Wright’s exercise done between August and October set in motion the national study, which has yielded some astonishing results.

According to the survey, in which 61 beggars were interviewed, 7 percent said they received more than R500 a day, close to 10 percent said they made R300 to R400 a day and 3 percent made R401 to R500 a day.

About a quarter got R151 to R250 a day, and another quarter said they managed to make R51 to R100.

Mans said she was astounded by how quickly she and Wright managed to win over the southern Cape public.

“We really did the whole number; torn, dirty clothes and putting on wigs to make it look like we had not washed our hair,” she said.

“In Plett we went out on a Saturday morning, and within three hours we had made R1 257. People just stopped and gave us money.”

In Mossel Bay on a midweek morning, a mere 45 minutes on the streets brought in a very respectable R366. That is until the local traffic authorities stepped in, as begging is not allowed in the seaside town.

In George they hit the streets in the afternoon. “We only made about R90 in a few hours, but the worst was how we were viewed. You could tell people thought we were up to no good, and the looks they gave us were bad.”

Mans said the point was to show not only at what times of the day begging was beneficial, but also how unemployed people who “always claim they are looking for a job” were not always telling the truth.

“The public are actually the ones keeping beggars on the street, and that is no good. If this is the kind of money a beggar can make, they will never bother looking for a job.

“It is more sustainable for the people of the country to donate through recognised charity organisations.”