Car washers told to pack up and go

A GROUP of city centre car washers are in danger of losing their meagre income after the City Police warned them to move to an alternative location, as the soap used to wash cars is allegedly destroying the tar road.

In response, the NG Church, the Methodist Church and employees at Niktus headquarters have sent letters to the City Police in an attempt to save the group’s income-generating project.The Methodist Church wrote that the City Police should allow the car washers to continue their business ‘since it is their one and only honest means of survival’.’Depriving them of this opportunity may lead to their families suffering more than they are now. It is our considered view that the council should actually support them and encourage them instead of pushing them further into social desperation,’ the church said.City Police spokesperson Max Hipandwa made it clear however that the area is ‘not suitable for a car wash’ and that the small enterprise ‘destroys the road’.He said the men have been warned by the City Police to take their business elsewhere, although the men are supplied with free water by the NG Church on the corner of Lüderitz Street.Hipandwa said it was not the City Police’s job to find a new location for the men.The NG Church wrote in a letter to the City Police that ‘if they must go to any other place where there are fewer cars they will not earn enough money. They get tap water in buckets for free on the premises of the church. We want to ask you to let the car washers do their work, so that they can earn money for their families.’Reverend Thijs van der Merwe of the NG Church said this week that it is important to appeal, in order to give ‘a voice to the voiceless.’In addition to washing cars, a Niktus employee, whose company also wrote a letter to the City Police, said that Niktus objects to the removal of the men.’They not only wash our cars, but they also look after our cars. They contribute to lessening crime in this area,’ she said. She added that the group of men ‘make ends meet in an honest way’. Morné Isak Vries, a veteran car washer in the area, said that in a good week it is possible to earn up to N$120. He said this money is the only income for himself, his wife and his two children.’This is very important work. I have to ensure my little ones and my girlfriend have a home and bread,’ he said.