Tough to distinguish between genuine beggars and conmen
ORGANISED charity, begging, handouts, special government grants during emergencies like Covid and normal government grants for the elderly, infirm and disabled, all collectively boggle and confuse the average mind. Mainly for two reasons – greed and dishonesty.
Donating to well-known, established organisations is the least problematic. Many of these traditionally take care of the deaf and blind who should be taken care of completely by the government.
Some well-known agencies go out of their way, risking life and limb. They and many others certainly deserve full support from both private people and the government.
Unfortunately, of late more and more charitable institutions have sprung up and not all of them can be checked for authenticity.
The main subject of this letter is not organisations that formally ask for help, but individuals who stand at traffic intersections, people who knock on doors, others who crowd mosques, temples and churchyards in the hope of catching a handout, and the thousands who claim special grants (Covid-related) meant for the unemployed, and the last category that claim old-age funds.
Because it’s impossible to read genuine honesty on a person’s face, sceptics like me don’t easily give in, so I could be short-changing somebody who really needs genuine help. One of the ways of testing if a beggar is really hungry is to offer him food that may be left-overs. Professional conmen generally scoff at this offer. Others may grab anything with both hands.
The bizarre Covid situation has created an equal number of genuine as well as confederate beggars.
There is yet another category – probably the worst of the lot: Wealthy people with a good income who collect old-age grants meant for “poor” people. Somehow they manage to get past the rules. Questioned, they reply: “Why leave it? It’s coming from our tax!”
There are many other categories of beggars, but merely helping another human is preceded by many questions.
EBRAHIM ESSA | Durban