PLETTENBERG BAY NEWS - Vagrants along Plettenberg Bay beaches have become a thorn in the side of local crime fighters, with complaints from residents a daily occurrence.

Lisa Nagel of Plett.Watch, a local neighbourhood watch group, said over the past three years she and her team have been inundated with grievances about vagrants at Sanctuary Beach as well as the Poortjies lagoon, which include aggression towards beachgoers, human waste scattered in access areas, public indecency and theft.

Nagel said they report the complaints to relevant authorities and while the culprits are mostly removed from the areas, they return within hours. 

"Unfortunately locals and visitors no longer feel safe visiting these beaches and this is not good for a town that relies so heavily on being a tourist attraction," she said.

She explained that there is very little authorities can do within the ambit of the law to keep vagrants off the beaches. Only if they commit a crime and a case is opened, can police act. 

"Unfortunately we hear quite often that victims of crime do not want to press formal charges," Nagel said, adding that there is fear that the incidents could escalate and that someone might be harmed in the future.

Bitou's Law Enforcement chief, Siyasanga Vandala, said his department attends to the situation daily. 

"We have established a crime-prevention team that is working every day from 12:00 to 00:00 at night. Their duties include removing of vagrants and illegal car guards. We are proud to say we have had huge success with these operations," Vandala said. 

They can however only take the vagrants to their respective areas of residence, he added. "We cannot arrest them unless they have committed a criminal offence." Vandala encouraged residents and visitors to report vagrants to the municipality's customer care or its dedicated 24-hour control room operators on 044 533 5000 / 044 501 3174.

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