Cape Town - Cape Town has witnessed a significant move towards tackling homelessness as several organisations come together to conduct a pilot point-in-time count of individuals experiencing rough sleeping.
The initiative, spearheaded by U-turn, Streetscapes, MES, New Hope SA, the Haven, and VRCID, sets the stage for ongoing efforts to understand and ultimately reduce homelessness within the city's borders.
On November 13, a team of over 200 volunteers gathered for a big count.
This effort included not just staff from the organisations involved, but also people who have experienced homelessness first-hand.
The pilot covered various areas, including the CBD and nearby regions, the southern suburbs like Rondebosch, Newlands, Claremont, and Kenilworth, the deep south areas such as Muizenberg, Fish Hoek, and Simon's Town, as well as the northern suburbs like Parow, Bellville, and Durbanville.
Jon Hopkins from U-turn, who led the count, said that without regular point-in-time counts, it’s impossible to know if rough sleeping in Cape Town is improving or worsening.
“The highlight of the experience for me was the collaboration between organisations working with people experiencing homelessness in Cape Town to do this together along with a both housed and unhoused members of the neighbourhoods we were counting in,” he said.
People living on the streets were asked questions about how long they’ve been homeless, what led to their situation, what services they’re using now, and what extra support they might need.
This information will help evaluate how well current programs are working, identify service needs, and monitor trends over time, all to make homelessness rare, short-lived, and not a recurring issue in the City.
Lisle Swarts, a Safe Space Caretaker, said: “It was so amazing engaging with the homeless on the streets. They were so welcoming and open to chat to us. I just realised how important it is to do this regularly. At no point in time did I feel unsafe. Everyone should join us next time.”
The count followed research ethics, and consent was obtained for any survey data collected.
Each team had at least one member with personal experience of homelessness, and the volunteers valued the diversity within the count teams.
A volunteer who joined the count in Muizenberg shared their experience: “The experience was overall great, it was heart-breaking to hear some of the stories but a feeling of contributing positively to the problem of access to services.”
Meanwhile, the pilot count is based on international best practices and marks the first step in a series of counts planned every six months.
Future counts will also cover more areas to give a fuller picture of homelessness in the city.
Enrique Hermanus, Parow Centre of Hope Manager, described the initiative as history in the making.
"We are solving homelessness and this, right here, is the first step in doing so,” he said.