Hunger and a lack of parental care are said to have driven many children in Windhoek's Okahandja Informal Settlement to the streets.

But the end results aren't pleasing.

The City Police held an engagement with the community of Okahandja Park following the observation of too many children roaming around the streets.

Many of the children from Okahandja Park walk to the Grove Mall in Kleine Kuppe, Town Square in the CBD, and other areas.

There, according to the City Police, they snatch people's handbags and beg for food and money.

Most of the children do not attend school owing to the lack of national documents and are forced to fend for themselves because they come from hunger-stricken households.

Parents are therefore advised to take charge of their children, while the public is urged not to give money to children on the streets but rather to give the money to the after-school centers to have those children fed there.

On behalf of the City Police, Sergeant Feliciana Tjiwana has also appealed to the residents to report children to the police if they are not behaving.