- Torrential rains last week caused severe flooding and structural damage to Haven Shelters in Kalk Bay and Kensington, leading to wet dormitories and a collapsed roof.
- CEO Shadrick Valayadum explained that contingency plans have been implemented, including relocating senior residents and expanding capacity to accommodate the influx of homeless people seeking shelter.
- The public is urged to support the buy-a-bed campaign to help provide beds, mattresses, and essential services to those in need.
As torrential rains caused major flooding and structural damage across the City last week, the vulnerable at the Haven Shelters in Kalk Bay and Kensington were impacted as dormitories flooded. A roof was also damaged and occupancy reached capacity.
According to Haven Shelter CEO Shadrick Valayadum, their night shelter in Kalk Bay experienced two separate flooding incidents during heavy rains last week.
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“The Kalk Bay shelter had two big floods causing damage in the male dormitory. The mattresses and bedding were wet and then we had a second flooding in the dormitory,” he explained. “On Wednesday, we packed sandbags to stop the water coming from the mountain from flooding the space again.”
Water damage, collapsed roof
Meanwhile, the Haven shelter in Kensington experienced water damage and a collapsed roof that is yet to be repaired.
“The Kensington roof collapsed, which pushed water into the female dormitories and the kitchen,” said Valayudum. “Both the roads leading to the shelter were also flooded, which pushed the water straight into the shelter.”
Mop-up operations continued throughout the week to keep the spaces dry.
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“It is still raining, so the contingency plan is to place buckets to contain the water as much as possible because we can’t fix the roof,” he said. “At the other shelters, we are also trying to do temporary patchwork.”
Cold and wet temperatures resulted in shelters being filled to capacity and contingency plans being put in place to create more space for the homeless.
“With the stormy weather, we had an influx of people, so we cleared 200 beds by moving senior residents to outlying areas such as Mossel Bay and Ceres,” he shared.
Valayadum explained that each shelter had a limit on how many people were allowed entry. However, the stormy weather required them to “bend the rules”.
“In Retreat, our staff went to the railways to look for street people who needed shelter and we created space for another 10 beds,” he said. “At our facilities in Wynberg, District Six and Kalk Bay it is packed to capacity, so we are trying to get additional mattresses and bedding. Even if we have mattresses on the floor, it is better than sleeping under a tree.”
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Street people seeking shelter will not be turned away, he added.
“If we need to, for example, we will add toilets and containers in District Six because we don’t want any homeless person to say there is no space for them.”
Buy-a-bed
The public who would like to assist can do so via the buy-a-bed campaign.
“The buy-a-bed campaign is there to render support to individuals coming into the shelter,” Valayadum shared. “For R75 a week, it helps us to render services to the homeless and it entitles them to a bed, meals, a hot shower, toiletries and everything else that goes with being in the shelter.”
He added: “Even after the week, we don’t put them out instead we hope that they will buy into our social work programme so that we can help them get their IDs, their Sassa if they qualify, help them get into hospital for any chronic medication or mental illness.”
Valayadum appealed to the public to assist with beds or mattresses for the homeless.
“During this time, where there are desperate measures we are asking the public to donate towards mattresses because we need to increase our bed spaces. A mattress for example costs R970 each and a double bunk close to R4 000 plus the bedding.”
- For more information and to donate visit the Haven Shelter website.
