Pretoria - Stakeholders in Tshwane, elected to deal with the plight of homeless people, have accused the City of tardiness and empty promises.
The stakeholders, which include the Tshwane Homelessness Forum, the University of Pretoria, (UP), the Unit for Street Homelessness, Community Oriented Substance Use Programme, and Unisa, said not only was the City inactive, but they were also impeding the whole process to care for the homeless.
Professor Stephen de Beer of UP said their concern was that the City was not honouring the said plan discussed during the first wave of Covid-19 about assisting homeless people, especially in regions where there was a huge concentration.
“Our concern is two-fold. First, slowly but surely the City has been closing down shelters without consultation, especially in Region 4, which need these facilities. Another concern is that the City is moving people from these shelters to centres that are already full, which is a serious health concern.”
De Beer said they acknowledged that shelters like the Art Gallery in Centurion, which had housed the homeless had to stop doing this because it needed to function. But other places which had no activities under the Covid regulations, should continue to house the homeless until permanent shelters were arranged.
He said some NGOs had already turned their facilities into permanent shelters. “There is no guarantee that NGOs and shelters like Centurion Haven Of Hope run by Tebogo (Mpufane) will remain open next (this) week,” he said.
Mpufane, who also works closely with the City Homelessness Task Team, said nothing had been happening since September when relevant stakeholders met to discuss the housing and shelters issues.
“We have not seen anything since last September when we met to discuss a way forward. No procurement, no talk about alternative housing, no psycho-social support,” he said.
He said the NGOs had no assistance and were left to fend for themselves. “We need assistance – from food to healthcare and infrastructure. There are thousands of homeless people to manage and we need all the support we can possibly get as an NGO.”
Mpufane, who is the mouthpiece of the concerned NGOs, said certain services rendered to all the shelters had been terminated, compromising the quality of services.
This included social work services, dignity packs and protective gear. “All they do is feed the homeless. No skills development, no programmes are set in place for their betterment, which will in future allow the homeless to be self-sufficient.”
Mpufane, who lived on the streets for many years himself, said this was the opportune time for the City to help the homeless. He said that too often the homeless were looked down on without understanding what led them to be homeless.
However, he did acknowledge that the problem didn’t just lie with the City but some other departments and sectors were not pulling their weight too.
MMC for Community and Social Development Services Thabisile Vilakazi said the City had completed the first phase of the verification process in some shelters as far as it related to Tshwane’s plan for relocation and providing permanent shelters.
“We are completing this process. The DA-led administration only regained governance of the City in early November last year. It has been three months and already we are putting the necessary efforts and interventions in place,” Vilakazi said.
She said they also had to wait for the budget adjustment to be approved this month.
The City had experienced a R4.4 billion deficit left by the Gauteng appointed administrators, she said. “Continued assistance throughout City shelters has been taking place.
They have had engagements with the stakeholders from early December. “We would encourage that these engagements be continuous and appreciated as the department is working to ensure that homelessness interventions are solidified given the fact that the matter remains an unfunded mandate for the City,” she said.
Pretoria News