SIBUSISO NKOMO
Staff Reporter
WITH pots of soup, blankets, clothes and cardboard, a group of Good Samaritans joined the city’s homeless on the Grand Parade last night.
A group of family, friends and work colleagues had decided to find out what it was like for homeless people living on the city’s streets, said organiser Takiyah Greeff.
“We are not doing anything big. We are serving soup and bread to the homeless. We have donated some clothes and blankets. We are sleeping here tonight out in the cold with only cardboard and blankets just like they do everyday,” she said.
Greeff said it might be “hectic” sleeping out in the open, but she wanted to raise awareness of the plight of the homeless. “We will stay here from 8pm to 5am in the morning.
“We are here to raise awareness among common hard-working Capetonians to understand the suffering these people go through. We want to bring a positive change in the lives of the homeless,” she said.
A wheelchair-bound homeless man, Ibrahim Sedgwick, said: “I’ve been staying on the streets for a long time and it’s always so cold here between 12am and 2am. I’m glad they came to help a bit,” he said.
Another homeless man, Eric Makama, said: “We hope it happens all the time. We are glad they are here. Usually we use cardboard and plastic when we sleep.
“We are always harassed by the security so we never use the same spot all the time as we get chased away. We are not on the street because we want to be, but there are no jobs and some of us have lost our families.”
Volunteer Clayton Williams said he had always wondered what it would be like to live on the street and how he could help the homeless.
The volunteers plan to make their initiative an annual event.