Cape Town - Ahead of the closure of the controversial Strandfontein Temporary Shelter,
the City has announced a new plan
to house homeless people during the
nationwide lockdown.
The City said it had adopted a three-pronged approach to accommodating street people, which includes the 365 people remaining on site at Strandfontein, who have indicated that they would prefer to remain in a safe space instead of returning to the streets; extending existing shelters by creating additional bed spaces; and long-term development of safe spaces across the city in identified communities.
The City’s Social Development and Early Childhood Development Department was working closely with shelters such as the Haven Night Shelter, Oasis Reach for Your Dream, Ubuntu Circle of Courage, TASP, Cape Flats YMCA and the Happy Valley Shelter.
Mayco member for community services and health Zahid Badroodien said: “This week, the mayoral committee has also given the go-ahead for the procurement of prefabricated structures to be placed on vacant City land next to existing shelters where this is a viable option.
“The benefit of this, rather than temporary pop-up shelters, is that beds will remain available even after the Covid-19 pandemic for our homeless to access at their convenience.”
Badroodien said the City remained committed to helping the vulnerable.
“Many people who were housed at Strandfontein have opted to return to the streets - some have already returned to their areas of origin. It’s not illegal to be homeless.
"The Level 4 lockdown regulations remove the authority of the state to evacuate a homeless person from any place to a shelter as a necessary precaution to preserve life.
“This goes to say that if a homeless person chooses not to access a shelter, the City cannot place an individual in a shelter without their consent.”
NGOs, however, have raised concerns about the City’s plans. The director of U-Turn, Sam Vos, said he hoped the City had allocated the shelters with additional funding.
“We submitted a comprehensive plan similar to the City’s which includes a modelling of how much it would cost. It would seem the City is taking our plan, but without us. The City would have to allocate extra funding because you can’t just place people without extra resources,” Vos said.
CAN Network organiser Miki Redelinghuys said it was evident that the response to homelessness from the City had been flawed from the start, and there had been trauma caused and a waste of resources in their initial strategy to create mass shelters reminiscent of the “refugee camps”.
@MarvinCharles17