Several Articles have been published in newspapers starting 2017 about planned SAFE SPACES built by City Of Capetown in City Central areas. 8 safe spaces are planned with one apparently one underway near the City destined to start for around MARCH 2018. We still need to gather info on them as CoC seems to have released only part of the info to public ..
So many issues with this but its an attempt better than sweeping of the street only to appear in same spot next week .(where is a person to go with 7000 on street and only 1000 shelter beds? One believes the intention is good...to some extent. Im sure many within city governance differ a lot . And can we hope for more than 100 or 200 beds in first safe space.? What about street people living away from the city. ?
One fears it could take several years and if ever, unless there is more public support. The homeless would have access to showers and lockers, while social workers and NGOs would provide a range of services. and one hopes Jobs in Public works cleaning streets at proper made available as much as possible though we the public should be involved in helping things along on the job side as applications can be screened by Coc social workers, with the muscle of business which CoC does not have .
This hasnt been made clear but it seems we need as the public to get beg hind the plan , and make sure it is humanly rolled out .
Some with more compassionate motivation vs those less so ..nothing is ever simple ..The hardest part seems getting the city to work WITH the public and participation is almost non existent and dominated by those in Public who s only interest is " keeping the streets clean" ... Probably in reaction to the extreme pressure of many who have zero tolerance for the Homeless in some areas, though in some more empathetic approaches seem to be taken by CoC Law Enforcement
. It will be interesting to see who those NGOS are they mention who are not named (but it does seem the Carpenters shop and if CoC (City of Capetown) they are open to public help and clear transparency. (Mike Irwin)
Lets hope it is places like STRAATWERK and SOUPERTROOPERS who try and reach the public so much already
see this article on IOL
QUOTE DEC 27 2017 on IOL Cape's homeless to get safe spaces by March 2018
Cape Town - In March next year, the City’s promise of having safe spaces for homeless people is set to come to fruition.
Earlier this year, Mayco member for safety and security, JP Smith, said they planned to create open-air, partially enclosed “safe spaces” to address both the shortage of beds at shelters and the restrictive rules at such places.
He said a large number of homeless people refused to go to shelters and that the safer spaces, which are to be opened between March and April next year, would have a more accommodating environment.
Smith added that the homeless would have access to showers and lockers, while social workers and NGOs would provide a range of services.
He said they had gone through the land use and planning and public participation processes, to see if there were objections.
“We struggled to get everybody on board and I have even gone to the ratepayers’ association and spoke to them to get them on board, and had public meetings.
“We are also getting ready to deploy prefabricated structures to these areas. We will have law enforcement officers on the scene to make sure it is safe. We will also have the health department coming around to render services.”
Smith said the space will function in a similar way to a shelter and homeless people could spend the night and leave in the morning.
“I wanted it to be ready for the festive season, but this time is the lowest usage and winter is where they use shelters. It is harder to make people avail themselves in summer,” he added.
Management of the plan was critical.
“We have to get it right; if we give our critics enough ground and ammunition, they will scuttle our idea.”
Secretary of the Greater Cape Town Civic Alliance, Philip Bam, said the safe spaces should be a start: “Any opportunity like this is welcome and to give them space cannot be the end of it. It must be a halfway house of sorts where they end up being reunited with their families.”
Bam said he was aware that a few NGOs had shown interest in providing services that would be beneficial to the homeless.
“Unless there are some services provided to get them back to their homes, then it’s just a ploy to keep them out of the sight of tourists... there should be counselling services, as a lot of them somehow lost their livelihoods.
“The main thing must be for people to get back to their families and communities, and to be reintegrated into the economy,” Bam added.
yolisa.tswanya@inl.co.za
So many issues with this but its an attempt better than sweeping of the street only to appear in same spot next week .(where is a person to go with 7000 on street and only 1000 shelter beds? One believes the intention is good...to some extent. Im sure many within city governance differ a lot . And can we hope for more than 100 or 200 beds in first safe space.? What about street people living away from the city. ?
One fears it could take several years and if ever, unless there is more public support. The homeless would have access to showers and lockers, while social workers and NGOs would provide a range of services. and one hopes Jobs in Public works cleaning streets at proper made available as much as possible though we the public should be involved in helping things along on the job side as applications can be screened by Coc social workers, with the muscle of business which CoC does not have .
This hasnt been made clear but it seems we need as the public to get beg hind the plan , and make sure it is humanly rolled out .
Some with more compassionate motivation vs those less so ..nothing is ever simple ..The hardest part seems getting the city to work WITH the public and participation is almost non existent and dominated by those in Public who s only interest is " keeping the streets clean" ... Probably in reaction to the extreme pressure of many who have zero tolerance for the Homeless in some areas, though in some more empathetic approaches seem to be taken by CoC Law Enforcement
. It will be interesting to see who those NGOS are they mention who are not named (but it does seem the Carpenters shop and if CoC (City of Capetown) they are open to public help and clear transparency. (Mike Irwin)
Lets hope it is places like STRAATWERK and SOUPERTROOPERS who try and reach the public so much already
see this article on IOL
QUOTE DEC 27 2017 on IOL Cape's homeless to get safe spaces by March 2018
Cape Town - In March next year, the City’s promise of having safe spaces for homeless people is set to come to fruition.
Earlier this year, Mayco member for safety and security, JP Smith, said they planned to create open-air, partially enclosed “safe spaces” to address both the shortage of beds at shelters and the restrictive rules at such places.
He said a large number of homeless people refused to go to shelters and that the safer spaces, which are to be opened between March and April next year, would have a more accommodating environment.
Smith added that the homeless would have access to showers and lockers, while social workers and NGOs would provide a range of services.
He said they had gone through the land use and planning and public participation processes, to see if there were objections.
“We struggled to get everybody on board and I have even gone to the ratepayers’ association and spoke to them to get them on board, and had public meetings.
“We are also getting ready to deploy prefabricated structures to these areas. We will have law enforcement officers on the scene to make sure it is safe. We will also have the health department coming around to render services.”
Smith said the space will function in a similar way to a shelter and homeless people could spend the night and leave in the morning.
“I wanted it to be ready for the festive season, but this time is the lowest usage and winter is where they use shelters. It is harder to make people avail themselves in summer,” he added.
Management of the plan was critical.
“We have to get it right; if we give our critics enough ground and ammunition, they will scuttle our idea.”
Secretary of the Greater Cape Town Civic Alliance, Philip Bam, said the safe spaces should be a start: “Any opportunity like this is welcome and to give them space cannot be the end of it. It must be a halfway house of sorts where they end up being reunited with their families.”
Bam said he was aware that a few NGOs had shown interest in providing services that would be beneficial to the homeless.
“Unless there are some services provided to get them back to their homes, then it’s just a ploy to keep them out of the sight of tourists... there should be counselling services, as a lot of them somehow lost their livelihoods.
“The main thing must be for people to get back to their families and communities, and to be reintegrated into the economy,” Bam added.
yolisa.tswanya@inl.co.za