Mahikeng- Lack of parental care, drugs and stigmatisation are some of the reasons compelling children to live and work on the streets, Thakaneng Project Manager Meshack Seemelo revealed.

Seemelo was speaking at a day long Child Protection Week campaign held at Thakaneng shelter in Ikangeng township on Friday.

“Our shelter has the capacity to cater for 60 children. Currently we have 54 children. This number fluctuates because most the children go back to the streets. They lack support from their parents. As a result they go back home and never go back to school again or come back to the shelter. Some are being stigmatised by their peers at their various school here in Ikageng township. That is why they end up going back to streets and retail stores to beg for money from the passer-by and motorists” he said.

Despite the challenges Seemelo said they have good stories to tell about some of the children who once indulged in street life. He said some of the kids managed to complete Grade 12 and are employed by Spar and others are now taxi drivers.

Childline Director Alice Carnell urged parents to use the childline optimally to report cases of abused children and those living and working in the streets.

More than ten children live at Promosa taxi rank. Most of them indulge in glue and have all dropped out of school. They claimed that they have not stolen from anybody. They said most of sellers at the taxi rank often send them to the banks to draw and deposit money in their accounts.

One of them who spoke on condition of anonymity said they he is not prepared to go home. He said they depend on food they get from the sellers at the taxi rank.

“In the morning we bath at Mooiriver near the mall. That is our life,” he said.

On Friday newly appointed MEC for Department of Social Development, Fenny Gaolaolwe deployed social workers to Ikageng hotspots areas, taxi ranks and road intersections to raise awareness on the plight of children living and working on the streets and profile them.

Gaolalolwe said her street campaign is geared towards assessing children living and working on the street, identifying push factors that led to the children choosing the streets and retail shops as their homes.

She urged the social workers to visit the families of the children living and working on the streets and write home circumstance report.

“The issue of children living and working on the streets is a serious challenge facing all of us. This year we are targeting hotspots such as road intersections, built-up areas and the hotels in Ngaka Modiri Molema and Dr Kenneth Kaunda districts, Gaolalolwe said adding that her department would assess the report of the families visited by social workers at Ikageng and take necessary steps restore the children to their families.-TDN
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