To commemorate World Homelessness Day this year the City of Cape Town has brought together government, civil society, service providers, people with lived experience and community stakeholders for its first official dialogue on homelessness.
The dialogue, held on Tuesday 13 October at the City’s Banqueting Hall, focused on strengthening collaboration, preventing rough sleeping and achieving lasting outcomes, the City said. It also marks the start of an annual gathering intended to bring the coalition together.
Progress on the ground
In the last financial year, the Street People Programme engaged with 10 127 people sleeping rough and conducted 22 843 follow-up engagements. Through these interventions 2 115 people secured shelter placements or other forms of support, while 163 people were reunited with their families, the City said.
Between May and June this year alone, they said, the programme completed more than 1 600 screenings, 4 500 follow-up engagements and 375 placements into shelters and Safe Spaces.
Nearly R100 million for the homelessness response
In the current financial year, the City has allocated nearly R100 million to its homelessness response, with R87 million supporting frontline interventions, the City said. This includes funding for the operation of the City’s four Safe Spaces, outreach and after-hours services, the annual Winter Readiness programme and short-term work opportunities through the Expanded Public Works Programme.
A further R10,125 million is being invested in expanding shelter accommodation infrastructure across the city.
Beyond a place to sleep
While accommodation is essential the City’s strategy recognises that a lasting response must extend beyond providing a place to sleep. It said its approach focuses on building a network of care that connects people with social services, health care, mental-health and substance-use support, skills development, employment opportunities and, where appropriate, family reunification.
The dialogue also explored prevention-focused approaches and support for particularly vulnerable groups, including older people and those experiencing mental-health challenges while sleeping rough on the streets.
“Homelessness is not hopelessness,” said Francine Higham, Mayco member for Community Services and Health. “Our job is not simply to count beds or outreach engagements, but to help people move from the street towards stability, recovery, reintegration and independence. That means investing in prevention, accommodation, better data and a stronger network of care, while working closely with the organisations and people who understand this challenge first-hand.”
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