THE business community in Bulawayo has raised concern over street children in the central business district accusing them of posing a health hazard in front of their business premises, hence affecting their operations.
Some of the businessmen whose shops are along 9th Avenue complained that the street children are using the pavements in front of their premises to relieve themselves, among other concerns.
They, however, said if they chase them away they always come back.
“The area now smells and our clients are complaining. Some good samaritans are using the place as a feeding point for these children so they cannot go away.
“We fear that they can be violent when we confront them because some block entrances to our businesses and this has an effect on our business operations,” they said.
A businessman who operates in that area, Kelechi Godwin of Pettkel Investment, said their clients were avoiding doing business with them because of the street children.
“They stand in front of our business entrances refusing to move away. Our clients have become afraid to do business with us,” Godwin said.
Bulawayo United Residents Association chairperson Winos Dube said it was true that the street children were becoming a menace in the city, adding that it was sometimes difficult to deal with them because some human rights organisations defend them.
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“Stakeholders should engage each other and find a solution to this issue. There should be a policy framework with which to deal with them because some institutions which claim to be human rights defenders protect these children when we try to remove them from the streets,” Dube said.
A local pastor, Useni Sibanda, said the problem of street children was a social and economic problem forcing them to go out on the streets.
He said some of them were of school-going age but were on the streets begging for food and money because their parents could not support them.
“It’s a deeply rooted problem, the economic collapse leading to many families getting into poverty. There are families who live near the central business district like Makokoba, their children come to beg on the streets.
“First, we need to sift and see which really are the children that are in need and those that are just begging while they are coming from near the city centre,” he said.
Sibanda maintained that there were institutions such as Social Welfare Department and churches that could cater for them.
“We can scrutinise and see who can be absorbed by these social safety nets. The broader challenge is unemployment, there is need to create jobs for parents.
“There are so many students that are on Basic Education Assistance Module, but it is not paying on time. There is also hunger because of the drought and many parents are not able to feed their children,” he said.
Sibanda said the business community should be part of the solution by playing its part of corporate social responsibility.
Bulawayo police spokesperson Inspector Abednico Ncube said they had not received any criminal cases in which street children are involved.
“It was going to be easy if there were cases that were reported in connection with the street children’s lawlessness. We are aware that there are street children in the city but stakeholders need to come together and identify issues so that they are reported. Our mandate is to maintain law and order,” he said.
