New homeless shelter unveiled in Durbanville

There is fresh hope for homeless people in the northern suburbs after a new shelter was launched there on Wednesday.

The Mould Empower Serve (MES) non-governmental organisation and the City held a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the New Street premises in Durbanville.

The Durbanville Safe Space, as the shelter is known, has bunk beds for 20 men and 20 women, and it will offer social programmes, training and referrals for medical and substance abuse treatment.

MES spokesperson Anelle Erasmus said it was not known when the shelter would take its first occupants as it would cost an estimated R130 000 each month to keep it running and that funding had yet to be sourced. The organisation is appealing to the public for support.

The length of stay for those using the shelter will vary depending on several factors..

“The shorter you lived on the streets the quicker it will take to process you. But someone who has been on the streets for eight years might have a very big rehabilitation problem that might last two or three years. But our dream is that you eventually move out and make space for others to come,” said Ms Erasmus.

MES already has a shelter in Bellville and another in Parow, and Ms Erasmus said it had more than 20 homeless people in a work-readiness programme who were ready to move into the new facility.

Speaking at the launch, mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis said: “Accepting social assistance to get off the streets is the best choice for dignity, health, and well-being. No person has the right to reserve a public space as exclusively theirs, while indefinitely refusing all offers of shelter and social assistance."

Sidwell Julius, 38, who stays in the Bellville Safe Space, said MES had come to his aid after he had started living on the streets of Durbanville in 2020.

“Life became unmanageable as I could not keep up and everything was getting hard on me because I don’t like to be told what to do and that's how I started using drugs.”