HOMELESSNESS
Cape Town - The City of Cape Town went to court and obtained an interim interdict against homeless people living on a field near the Mitchells Plain Town Centre to stop them from further occupying the site.
Last week, the matter was brought to the SA Human Rights Commissioner to probe after the group’s structures had been removed by law enforcement officers on several occasions.
The interim interdict the City obtained at the Western Cape High Court prohibits them from further erecting, completing, or extending any structure. It also restrains them from occupying a vacant structure that may have been completed but is unoccupied.
The matter has been set for June 17 for the respondents to argue why the order should not be made final.
Activist group Ndifuna Ukwazi recently called on the City to rescind its “unconstitutional” streets by-law and find progressive ways to address homelessness.
The organisation said it would ensure the group of homeless people were treated fairly.
During the council sitting on Thursday, mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis alluded to the upsurge in homelessness which he said was driven strongly by the impact of the Covid-19 lockdown.
Hill-Lewis said in the past year, City teams had helped 860 people off the streets, through shelter placements, reunifying family and loved ones, and other forms of social assistance
“Whichever way you look at it, the people who face a cold winter without a roof over their heads are there because life has not worked out the way they’d hoped, some combination of tragic circumstances have contrived to put them there. And they need our help,” he said.
He further said in cases where social support had been consistently refused, the City would seek the necessary court order, and ensure alternative accommodation was offered.
Ward councillor Solomon Philander said attempts were made to assist people living on the streets, but they refused.
“People living on the streets have the right to refuse assistance as this is their right. I can confirm that the engagement and assessment from the street people unit and the two field workers were funded from ward allocation. People do refuse alternatives.
“The City includes us with updates on available spaces should any persons voluntarily indicate they want to come off the street. Even Nehemiah Call foundation and U-turn, among others, also provide a service. This means help is available, but the individual must be willing,” he said.
However, Nehemiah Call Initiative founder Dean Ramjoomia said this was just a “bureaucratic” process through which the City tried to exonerate itself.
Independent Homeless Consultant Carlos Mesquita said the City could not end homelessness alone, and no one, including the City, could do something sustainable and with dignity overnight.
He said those who go into the shelter system were forced back on to the streets in three months, and this became a vicious cycle.
“Churches, businesses, civil society and the homeless are going to have to work with the City and walk this walk. It’s very solvable.
“Chronic homelessness can be ended, but we have to realise that we have to stop perpetuating the lie of years gone by that there are enough shelter beds and options, and that the shelters have to provide adequate services. There are not, and they don’t.
“They serve a purpose as do the safe spaces but they must be supplemented with a ladder of sorts in terms of accommodating the homeless,” he said.
Mesquita said relevant parties had to work together, share resources, and “put shoulders to the wheel”.
He said removing people without sustainable alternatives in the middle of winter was not the answer.