The Cape Argus has launched a new collaborative editorial initiative called #TheDignityProject – a 15-part daily series about the homeless people of Cape Town. Homeless person Danny Oosthuizen will be writing a daily column for the duration of the project. Read the fourth entry in Danny’s Diary below ...
Cape Town - We strollers can walk… To walk from the city centre to Camps Bay is a common occurrence. This can take the whole day because we tend to stop along the way for a quick skarrel or find an opportunity to make money.
Long Street at night is like the main artery of Cape Town, pumping life when the rest of the city is sleeping.
It is such a melting pot of cultures, food and music. And we love it!
We are up and down, parking cars, dancing on the pavements and having a great time. There are always tourists willing to chat, play pool and buy us a drink or two. Did you say you want me to be your weekend special? The vibe is about partying and having fun, so we blend in quite well.
As in every city around the world you find sex workers here. It would be nice if one remembers that behind the sex worker is a human being.
We homeless people are in favour of decriminalisation of sex work because we have seen how some of these workers can get abused or even killed. They, too, need protection.
Yes, there is alcohol and drugs. Just like in your own neighbourhood. I guess where you have access to Valium and Prozac, we roll a joint or smoke a tik lolli.
We have no set time to do our recycling or skarelling. It usually depends on which days the garbage is collected and if there has been an event that has generated recyclable goods such as plastic and glass.
Sundays we flock to some church or other.
There is a bus from the convention centre that takes us to Hillsong (in Century City). Some of us go to the Salvation Army.
I have found my sanctuary at the Central Methodist Church on Greenmarket Square.
I dearly love Alan and the congregation.
We also enjoy Sunday lunch at The Service Dining Rooms.
And just up the hill at 1pm we have a service and another meal.
* To engage with Danny, e-mail him at [email protected]
Cape Argus