People should not be sleeping in public spaces. Not in a city centre, and especially not during an extremely cold and wet winter. They deserve to live dignified lives in safe and comfortable homes. On this we can all agree.

The City of Cape Town this week started the process of getting homeless people off the streets of the CBD.

The illegal occupation of public areas has become a growing problem since the pandemic took hold in 2020. The courts ultimately granted the City permission to enforce the evictions.

More than 150 people have since accepted shelter in the City’s Safe Spaces, but those who have not taken up the offer face the threat of being removed by force by the authorities. One hopes it won’t come to that. There has been plenty of public debate about the quality of accommodation at the Safe Spaces.

Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis has been at pains to demonstrate the City’s commitment to providing adequate alternatives for the homeless. In a PR move on the eve of the removals, he opened the Ebenezer Safe Space in Green Point, which has 300 beds. He reiterated that occupants would have access to medical care, social workers, substance abuse treatment, family reunification services, EPWP work, and programmes to help them leave the streets for good.

No good deed or intention goes unpunished, it seems, and the mayor, and the Safe Spaces, once again came in for criticism. There’s no privacy, conditions are prison-like, residents can’t come and go as they please, it’s cold and damp. Stays are for no longer than 6 months and people end up back on the street.

There are no permanent solutions for rehabilitation, reintegration, family reunification and re-homing, experts say.

As is often the case, local government is accused of not engaging with the homeless to find out what their needs are, and not consulting with activists and NGOs to find the right solutions.

It’s a perpetual cycle of the City of saying “we’re doing all we can” and activists saying “you’re doing it wrong”. And it’s counter-productive.

There are 7 000 to 8 000 homeless people living rough in the city, and alleviating this enormous problem is going to require co-ordination of all the resources and expertise at our disposal.

It’s time to put differences and/or political interests aside and work together for the dignity of our marginalised fellow citizens.

* Taariq Halim, Western Cape Regional Editor.

Cape Argus

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