Cape Town - The City of Cape Town is calling on residents, more so those who live and work or have interests in the CBD and the Atlantic Seaboard to submit their thoughts regarding the City’s plans to create a new Safe Space facility.
The proposed 300-bed Safe Space will be on the portion of a City road depot under the flyover on Ebenezer Road in the Green Point CBD. According to the City, the location is well-positioned to help more people off the streets in the CBD and seaboard area.
In a statement, the City said that its Safe Spaces facilities offer homeless individuals and families dignified transitional shelter to help them get off the streets. The initiative also includes programmes to promote reintegration into society or reunification with the individual’s families.
“City Safe Spaces also offer addiction treatment, referrals for psychiatric treatment, personal development planning and employment opportunities are also on offer. Accepting social assistance to get off the streets is the best choice for dignity, health, and well-being. Equally, no person has the right to exclusively reserve a public space while indefinitely refusing all offers of social assistance.”
The planning application for the bridge facility opened last week for public comment by affected parties and will remain open until May 8, 2023.
Once green-lit, the project will form part of the City's endeavour to get more homeless people off the streets by raising Safe Space budgets by 62% over the next three years.
A few months ago, the City announced that around R230m has been projected to expand and operate Safe Spaces facilities within the CBD, Bellville, and various other economic nodes across Cape Town.
The City currently operates two Safe Spaces at Culemborg in the east CBD, which offers 480 shelter beds across the facilities. The new Ebenezer Road facility is set to bolster overall capacity in the CBD area by providing an additional 300 beds.
“Elsewhere in the City, Safe Space capacity is set to increase in Bellville, Muizenberg and Durbanville in the coming months. The City is also progressing on re-purposing other municipal-owned sites elsewhere in the metro, working with NGO partners, CIDs and residents.”
According to the City, since the start of the 22/23 financial year, metro-wide City social development interventions have resulted in 1453 people helped off the streets, 942 people participating in development programmes at Safe Spaces, 409 EPWP work placements for those staying at Safe Spaces and shelters and approximately 382 referrals for social grants, IDs, specialised care and mental health facilities, and substance abuse treatments.
To comment on the proposed Safe Space at Ebenezer Road; please email [email protected] or submit a comment in writing to the office of the Table Bay District Office on or before the closing date of May 8, 2023, district office email [email protected]
“Residents are to remember that any objections, comments or representation about the proposal must be submitted on prescribed forms with reasons therefor.”
Prescribed forms for comment can be downloaded at the following link: http://www.capetown.gov.za/LandUseObjections, while applications may be inspected during office hours at the relevant District Office.
To arrange an appointment with the relevant district office via email: [email protected]