Cape Town's bergies get upgrade

Cape Town's so-called 'bergies' are to get an upgrade. The name, stemming from the Afrikaans word for mountain, refers to the colourful tramps and beggars who roam the city's streets but often sleep out in the open on the eye-catching slopes of the fabled Table Mountain looming over the city. Cape Town's natural beauty has attracted hordes of tourists from Europe and China, with an additional boost coming from the sharp decline in the SA rand exchange rate. The local tourist bureau is increasingly concerned that the presence of poorly turned out bergies is lowering the tone of the city, especially for foreigners on package tours. Councillor Ben vd Merck has come up with a brainwave: ''If we put sunglasses on the bergies they will instantly appear much cooler. Down and outs wearing designer-wear can blend more easily into the style package Cape Town is offering on the world tourism stage." Polaroid, the international sunglass brand business based in Minnetonka, Minnesota has now agreed to supply its cool range of shades to selected bergies as a pilot project. The city will then carry out a survey of tourists to determine reactions. Gene Walker, a visitor to the trendy Cape Town Waterfront from Hartlepool, commented: "Why draw the line at sunglasses? For one thing, they're not much use at night, when many bergies are on show. I'm sure a company like Adidas or New Balance could be approached to supply a line of designer track shoes. The bergies' attitude towards tourists would improve immeasurably if they could replace their threadbare shoes with a Nike swoosh." There's already a precedent for this. It's no secret that local bin cleaners have been seen carrying the kit-bags of a top local school, Bishops, on their backs. Although the school has denied it, there are claims that it has deliberately distributed these in order to downplay accusations of elitism - a burden the school has borne almost since it was founded in the 1800s.