People living on the street will soon have access to a new shelter, this after the Western Cape Department of Social Development (DSD) allocated R4,5 million over the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) to establish a new shelter.
The new facility, which will be based at the former Robbie Nurock Day Hospital in Buitenkant Street in the City Bowl, is set to be operational by the end of the 2022-’23 financial year.
Robbie Nurock Day Hospital, known as the city’s oldest clinic (founded in 1905), closed a few years ago.
The day hospital and the Woodstock Community Health Centre were then merged and relocated to the new District Six Community Health Centre in Caledon Street in 2017.
The new shelter, once refurbished and opened, will be able to accommodate up to 100 residents at any given time. The facility will be managed by “a suitable non-profit organisation (NPO) partner”, which the department is in the process of identifying.
Sharna Fernandez, Western Cape Minister of Social Development, says she is pleased that the plans to complete the much-needed facility, which looks to expand the existing network of safe spaces for homeless citizens living in the province, are coming to fruition.
“We remain committed to ensuring that shelter services are delivered in ways that help homeless citizens gain access to essential and basic social services that promote their dignity and well-being.”
She says the provincial DSD collaborates with local government, NPOs and related institutions to provide shelters and reintegration services for people who find themselves on the streets.
Fernandez explains that the individuals who use the shelter services also have access to other services rendered by the DSD. She says, where possible, shelters assist clients in accessing medical services and ID documentation applications.
“During the Covid-19 pandemic, the Western Cape Department of Social Development has increased the number of bed spaces for homeless citizens that it funds from 1 500 to 2 499. Moreover, additional social worker posts are also funded at all shelters that the department partners with to aid with reintegration and support the residents.”
Carlos Mesquita, founder of Rehoming Collective, a shelter that provides support to people living on the street, says he welcomes the project as he has been advocating for the building to be transformed into a shelter for a few years.
“I am praying that the service provider will utilise the site to its best potential. There are a lot of people who refuse to go to shelters and they have good reasons for that. We need different models of accommodation to rehome the homeless with dignity and I am hoping that some of this will be taken into consideration and that the province doesn’t only fund a specific type of shelter where people are no longer prepared to stay in those conditions.”
Mesquita says as someone who used to live on the street, he has first-hand experience of the circumstances at some shelters.
“This is going to be the first shelter in the CBD. Hopefully, this will not be an employment shelter and will be a shelter for people currently on the street.”
During the tabling of the City’s draft budget late last month, Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis said the City aimed to do more to solve homelessness. Hill-Lewis said homelessness was caused by a “complex interaction” between poverty, a lack of housing availability, drug use and mental illness.
He said the City’s Care Programme to help people off the streets had been increased to R77 million in this budget, adding that a further R10 million would go directly to increasing beds at shelters this winter.
“And R142 million is set aside to operate and expand City-run Safe Spaces in the next three years. Our Safe Spaces Programme provides secure, alternative accommodation for the homeless and opportunities to find employment, move into formal accommodation and, where necessary, enter into drug and alcohol rehabilitation programmes.”
Fernandez encourages people to get involved through volunteering or donating to registered NGOs operating in the province.
- Information on registered NGOs can be obtained by visiting the regional and local offices or contacting the DSD hotline on 0800 220 250.
