Cape Town - The Cape Town Central City Improvement District (CCID) has come under fire from homeless people, who complained that CCID officers are picking them up in the CBD and dumping them on the outskirts of the city.
They were continually humiliated and stripped of their dignity, the homeless said. Their grievances were backed by former CCID employee Dean Ramjoomia, who started a campaign to support those whose rights were violated.
CCID chief operating officer Tasso Evangelinos said he could not comment due to a work dispute with Ramjoomia.
Barrington Mki, who has lived on the streets since he was 12 years old, said: “When you are just standing along the street, they are always asking us what we are doing. They will then chase us away. The way they speak to us is totally unacceptable.
“They pick us up in their vans and dump us in Mowbray or Woodstock. You have to find your own way back. We go through it so often.”
Mki, 39, complained that street people in the CBD were accused of being responsible for crime. “But not all of us are criminals or drug addicts. All we want is to be treated like human beings.”
CCID officers would also shove homeless people in their vans and take them to the police station, he said.
“They will take our blankets people give us. I don’t even know what they do with it. Law enforcement officers will also come and just take our belongings,” said Mki, who sleeps on land close to Trafalgar High School with a group of homeless people.
Colin Davids, who also lives on the streets, said he was once picked up by CCID staff and dumped in Maitland.
“It feels like in the days of apartheid. Foreigners in the city have more rights to be where they want to be.
“We are not allowed to be where we want to here in the city. We just want to be able to feel free like other citizens,” said Davids, who worked as a car guard in Buitenkant Street.
Ramjoomia said he has collected 307 signatures on a petition from homeless people demanding to be treated with respect.
“There are 16 demands we have drawn up along with a petition that we will hand over to the CCID and the mayor. One of the demands is that the CCID refrain from taking action against homeless people by removing them from areas in the CBD. It is a gross violation of their rights.
“The CCID should not be playing any role in removing homeless people from the CBD. They are being treated as undesirables,” he said.
In response to Ramjoomia’s comments, Evangelinos said: “Mr Ramjoomia was dismissed from the Cape Town Central City Improvement District in May of this year after an independently arbitrated disciplinary process.
“The matter is currently with the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA), and until this has been resolved by the CCMA it would not be prudent for the CCID to be making statements publicly to any party.”
Mayco member for safety and security JP Smith said people who erected makeshift homes close to Trafalgar High contravened the City’s by-laws.
His staff are trained to deal with street people in a sensitive manner, Smith said, adding that up to 85% of complaints were of street people involved in anti-social behaviour, such as urinating in public.
“The complaints have escalated and staff have to take the hard line. Staff from the Displacement People Unit get stabbed and have faeces flung at them.”
Cape Times