Over the course of 12 months, concluding in June 2023, the City’s Street People Programme Unit, operating within the Social Development & Early Childhood Development Department (SD&ECD), actively engaged with individuals living on the streets through over 51,000 interactions.
These engagements took place via walk-in visits and regular outreach activities conducted across the metropolis.
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The unit plays a vital role in facilitating access to social and health services, providing shelter placements, fostering personal development opportunities, and offering practical assistance, such as aiding individuals in obtaining identity documents and social grants.
Throughout the past year, the unit successfully arranged shelter for 2,246 individuals, reintegrated 112 individuals with their families or communities, and referred 1,124 individuals to various services, including rehabilitation and health programmes. Additionally, 882 individuals were provided short-term contractual job opportunities through the Expanded Public Works Programme.
Mayoral Committee Member for Community Services and Health, Councillor Patricia Van der Ross, acknowledged the complex and demanding task of assisting individuals in transitioning from homelessness.
‘Intervening to help people off the streets is a process. Not only do our staff have to establish trust with the clients, but rebuilding relationships, and addressing the reasons why they migrated to the streets in the first place do not happen overnight. Very often it takes months of engaging with an individual before they agree to assistance. The City’s interventions to help people off the streets are well documented, but we also need to shine a brighter light on the work of the men and women who go out day after day, trying to get people to accept help. It is no easy feat, and I want to thank them for their dedication and commitment,’ said Councillor Van der Ross.
Collaborating with its partners, the City also coordinates a diverse range of developmental programmes tailored to individuals utilising the Safe Space facilities. Notably, one such initiative offered clients the opportunity to obtain their learner’s licenses earlier this year.
Currently, the City operates three Safe Spaces as temporary shelter facilities, with two located in Culemborg, CBD, and the Paint City Safe Space situated in Bellville. These combined sites have a total capacity of 780 beds. Furthermore, ongoing plans are in place to establish further safe spaces in Durbanville and Green Point, aiming to expand the City’s support network.
To augment efforts in assisting individuals living on the streets, the City provides support to non-governmental organisations (NGOs) by increasing their capacity through the Winter Readiness Programme, which adds 300 additional bed spaces. Grant-in-Aid funding is also extended to further aid in these initiatives.
‘The City appreciates that homelessness is a very complex issue, and while not a municipal mandate, the City’s Street People policy guides a series of interventions to assist people to leave the streets for good. We have expanded the range of interventions and increased the budget over time, as the only metro dedicating a social development budget to this critical issue. The situation was exacerbated by the two-year pandemic, but we remain committed to helping those in need through social assistance programmes, Safe Spaces and ongoing assistance to the NGO sector,’ added Councillor Van der Ross.
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