A disturbing sticked photographed at Gardens Centre on Monday went viral on social media. The sticker, which carried the City’s emblem, promised “social cleansing” and encouraged citizens not to feed the homeless.
The City has since taken to Twitter to state that it has nothing to do with the sticker, its placement or its wording.
“The City is not aware of what appears to be a malicious sticker – it was not designed or sanctioned by the City. We will be liaising with the management of the shopping centre where this sticker was apparently spotted to get to the bottom of it,” it said in a statement.
Gardens Centre management said that it did not know about the sticker, nor does it support what it stands for. The offensive sticker has been removed.
The sticker is fake but it’s also real:
However, the issue speaks to a larger issue at hand, says activist Carlos Mesquita in response to social media reactions to the wording. He says that the sticker shows a worrying trend of how people in the city feel about homeless people.
The City said on Tuesday that it will be allocating R4.5 million over the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) to establish a new shelter for homeless citizens at the former Robbie Nurock Clinic located in Cape Town. However, the city has been largely criticised for its policies on homeless people, and has been labelled as “anti-poor”. This shelter will accommodate up to 100 people at a time.
Meanwhile, the City is appealing to anyone with information or who might spot similar stickers elsewhere to alert it as soon as possible.
Also read:
Local government to set aside R4.5 million for shelter for the homeless
Picture: Twitter