Cape Town - With winter ahead approaching and a looming court hearing on the fate of homeless people, a City report said its officials had received 3 943 complaints about homeless people’s conduct across the city’s four districts in three months, from October to December.
The Cape Argus recently reported that in February the high court granted the City’s application for eviction notices to be served at several occupied sites in the CBD, with the City vowing to serve notices before the next court hearing in April, where they expect the court to grant a final eviction order.
The court case applied only to homeless people in the CBD – for now.
According to City reports, the most complaints came from Area North, with 1 896; Area South, 245; Area Central, 893; and Area East, 909.
This information is gleaned from the City’s quarterly progress reports, titled “The work of the street people programme unit(s)”, with a focus on some subcouncils.
The subcouncil 1 report said three after-hours social interventions were implemented from October to December 2022, when 124 homeless people were offered social assistance and given information about where they can access services, such as applications for identity documents, primary health-care services and social grants. Two were placed at shelters and at City-run safe spaces.
The subcouncil 1’s unit staff attended to several types of complaints.
The hot spot areas in subcouncil 1 regularly visited by the street people programme units are: Corner of West Coast Road and Sandown Road; St Chad’s Walk; the Regent Park, behind Virgin Active and Parklands Main Road; Melkbos Beach; Blouberg Beach; Atlantis police station; and the Wesfleur library.
“An ongoing challenge of street children has been addressed and parents of the children begging at intersections in subcouncil 1 have been informed about the dangers that their children are facing daily,” the subcouncil 1 report, dated January, said.
“The (City’s social development) department has been working closely with the subcouncil to establish the People Living on the Streets Forum. To date, three meetings were conducted to discuss and pool resources in an effort to deal with the problem of adults and children living on the streets.”
The report said the City’s social development and early childhood department did not have a mandate to perform statutory functions, but had since contacted the provincial Department of Social Development.
Mayoral committee member for community service and health Patricia van der Ross said: “The complaints vary and include issues such as dumping and noise, among others.”
Ndifuna Ukwazi attorney Jonty Cogger said the most crucial part of the Constitution’s section 26 and the PIE Act was that they decriminalised the unlawful occupation of land, repealed the apartheid-era Prevention of Illegal Squatting Act 52 of 1952, and subjected the eviction process to a number of requirements necessary so that it complies with certain demands in the Bill of Rights.
CM Homeless Consultant and Homeless Solutions founder Carlos Mesquita said the City had no legal right to evict homeless people without court orders, regardless of the number of complaints from their neighbours.
“If we are all equal under the law, ask yourself this, have you ever heard of a couple that has marital issues being evicted because their neighbours complained about their constant fights every night?” Mesquita said.
He said his organisation was finalising a headcount of those living on the streets in the CBD alone, where they have spoken to 4 692 homeless people, carrying out 2 909 assessments.
Greater Table View Action Forum chairperson Karen Davis was surprised the figures were not higher.
“It’s really unacceptable that residents and ratepayers have to exist with the filth, lawlessness and unacceptable behaviour most of these homeless people perpetuate. Being poor does not have to mean you live in filth.
“In our area, our community clean-up crew go out every second week, with Solid Waste and Law Enforcement, to clean up after these people. There are rats the size of cats being lured by the rubbish they throw around.”
She said “most of these people choose this life” and “don’t conform to society’s norms and rules and everyone else pays the price”.