Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis has welcomed the approval of City plans to open a 300-bed Safe Space homeless shelter that aims to help more people off the streets in Cape Town’s CBD. The Municipal Planning Tribunal has approved plans for Safe Space, with the appeals phase now also concluded.
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The Safe Space will operate on a portion of municipal depot land on Ebenezer Road in Green Point, with operations set to begin early in the new year.
According to the City, Safe Space offers dignified transitional shelter coupled with care interventions to help people find sustainable pathways off the streets, including referrals for addiction or psychiatric treatment, personal development planning, employment opportunities, ID and social grant access and family reunifications.
‘We are pleased that planning approval has been granted for the City to add 300 more dignified transitional shelter beds to help people off the streets in the CBD and Atlantic Seaboard. This brings the total Safe Space beds to around 780 in central Cape Town, including the two facilities operating at Culemborg in the east CBD,’ said Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis.
‘The CBD is Cape Town’s main economic and tourism hub, and it is vital that public places are open and available for all. Accepting social assistance to get off the streets is the best choice for dignity, health and well-being. Where offers of help to get off the streets have been persistently refused, we are seeking help from the courts as a last resort. No person has the right to reserve a public space as exclusively theirs, while indefinitely refusing all offers of shelter and social assistance.’
Hill-Lewis added that R230 million will be spent over the next three years to operate and expand the Safe Space shelters beyond central Cape Town and Bellville.
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Also read: Ratepayers get behind new Safe Space for homeless in Green Point
In addition to the expansion of Safe Space, the City is also supporting NPOs to extend their facilities.
The City has contributed a 63% bed boost to the CBD’s Haven Night Shelter, expanding this facility from 96 to 156 beds. During the winter, it enabled several NGOs to add 300 more temporary bed spaces to cope with additional shelter demand, including the deployment of 184 Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) workers to assist NPOs.
In total, the City’s Street People programme budget amounts to R94.75 million for 2023/24, a 23% increase from 2022/23. Over three years, R75 million will be available through grant-in-aid funding to NGOs, including those working to help people off the streets.
Additionally, in an effort to address one of the key driving factors leading to homelessness, the City runs the Matrix substance abuse treatment programme, which holds an 80% success rate for clients.
In the 12 months ending June 2023, the City said it has helped almost 3 500 individuals with shelter placement or referrals to an array of social services. This includes 2 246 shelter placements, 112 family reunifications and reintegrations, 1 124 referrals to social services, and over 880 short-term contractual job opportunities via the EPWP.
According to the City, the Safe Space model includes:
- Dignified shelter
- Comfort and ablutions
- Two meals per day
- Access to a social worker on-site
- Personal development planning
- Various social services, including ID Book and social grant assistance
- Family reunification services
- Access to substance and alcohol abuse treatment
- Skills training
- Help finding jobs
- Access to EPWP work placement
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Picture: City of Cape Town