Residents of Durbanville are now fed-up with the “tented camp” of vagrants opposite All Saints Church in Baxter Street – right under their noses at the entrance to Durbanville.
The problem seems to be a time-bomb as some irate residents are threatening to take matters in their own hands if the City of Cape Town does not do something.
Many expressed their frustration with the “lack of action” from the City of Cape Town on the Facebook pages of neighbourhood watches.
It is not only because of the unsightliness and aggressive behaviour of the vagrants, but also the stench of human faeces, urination and unhygienic conditions, residents complain on social media.
More than 2 500 residents signed a petition which was only started last Friday (15 July) by Richard Downing, a resident and board member of the Valmary Park Neighbourhood Watch.
It has been more than two years now that residents have been kept on a string – first the state of emergency was given as the reason why vagrants could not be removed, and now it is the City’s own new policy that keeps the City from removing them unless a whole series of processes, including a court case, have been followed, as well as the Prevention of Illegal Eviction (Pie) Act.
While some responsible residents respect the City’s Give Responsibly campaign, a local church and other people, apparently not even living in Durbanville, are still handing out food to the vagrants.
The hand-out by the Urban Edge Church on Saturday to the vagrants was condemned by residents on social media.
Ed Ellish, executive pastor of the Urban Edge Church, says in a statement the hand-out was part of the church’s Kindness Campaign for Mandela Day, “in which people are encouraged to find a way to love their community by doing acts of kindness”.
“While we do give people guidelines and suggest organisations they can partner with, we do not stipulate or try to control any individual choices made in choosing what act of kindness they would like to do. In this respect, we do not either condone or condemn any act of kindness that gets done,” he says in the statement.
TygerBurger was also there on Saturday morning when a couple in a bakkie came to hand out their leftover food and about 20 empty beer bottles. She did not answer a question by TygerBurger if she lives in Durbanville.
On Saturday a fleet of City vehicles was seen gathering at the tented camp – apparently a joint operation between different City departments (solid waste, social services and law enforcement) to clean up the area. Hope flared up on social media that the City is finally acting up, but TygerBurger could not confirm what the purpose of the gathering was. No tents were removed.
The petition was started after the number of tents increased from 17 to 23 tents in one week.
Petition
Richard Downing, a board member of Valmary Park neighbourhood, says he stopped the petition to Cape Town mayor, Geordin Hill-Lewis, on Monday when more than 2 500 residents signed it in less than four days.
In his open letter to the mayor, Downing says residents are witnessing “the daily expansion of this informal settlement, where there is no water supply, no recognised fire-making areas and importantly, no toilet facilities”.
“… we as rate-paying residents expect a court order to be raised so we can move these folks from the centre of our village. It seems nobody knows what the authorities are doing regarding this matter and nobody knows if a court order has even been raised.
“The level of frustration among residents is extremely high and I fear we will see the residents taking the law into their own hands if we don’t coordinate a stop to the new tents,” he says in his letter.
“It is suggested that another piece of land more suitable for an informal settlement be found (in close proximity),” his letter states.
“One thing we can be sure of – is that the residents of Durbanville will not allow an informal settlement like Dunoon to develop right under our noses in the centre of town.”
Theresa Uys, councillor and Mayco member for corporate services, says in a statement she has escalated all the complaints and concerns to the office of the city manager, the mayor and the City’s legal department.
“Social development field workers engage with homeless individuals on the streets of the ward on a weekly basis and have records of each person spoken to and their details. The goal is to help reintegrate individuals back into society and to use as evidence in our eviction application. Sadly, any assistance offered by the City is mostly declined,” she says.
Lack of safe spaces
However, even if they agree to be relocated, it seems there are not enough safe spaces in Cape Town to offer to street people.
Ilse Maartens, branch manager of MES Cape Town, says according to their findings, there are 14 357 homeless people in Cape Town, but only 2 473 beds in the City’s shelters.
“It will therefore be impossible for homeless people to comply with the new amendments made to the bylaw. It also puts the City’s law enforcement and social development officials in a predicament as to find alternative accommodation for people willing to come off the street,” she says.
According to Maartens, 211 street people were counted with the GTP survey for the homeless in Durbanville in May – compared to 140 homeless people in the area during hard lockdown. “Country wide there are more homeless due to the impact of Covid,” she says.
Uys says several media releases have been issued by the City to explain the legal challenges experienced, not only in Durbanville, but across the city – during the lockdown period and the subsequent court rulings, of which the Human Rights Commission case against the City has severely hampered their efforts to remove the occupiers.
“This interdict against the City is further complicated by the Pie Act, which states that if the City wishes to remove a structure, the City must offer alternative accommodation. This is unfortunately the law at the moment and the mayor has prioritised the provision of R142 million for additional safe spaces over the next three years,” she says.
According to Uys the City’s legal department is also currently applying for 31 prioritised eviction orders from City owned property.
“The City has seen the establishment of close to 60 new informal settlements across the city since March 2020. Unfortunately, for as long as this interdict remains in place, the City’s by-laws in respect of illegal occupation – tents, hokkies, illegal land invasions, squatting in public spaces – have been paralysed and cannot be enforced by the law enforcement officers and anti-land invasion units,” she says.
“I have noted with dismay that it is local residents who hand out the tents and other donations. I humbly request our local communities to assist the City in our efforts and challenges by supporting our Give Responsibly, Give Dignity Campaign.
“We want to emphasise that we discourage direct giving and urge people to rather to support NGO’s assisting street people. Direct handouts helps sustain a very deeply damaging lifestyle on the streets,” she says.
Patricia van der Ross, Mayco member for community services and health, says on enquiry by TygerBurger the City is currently investigating the extension of its safe spaces to other areas within the City. “The Durbanville area is included in this investigation to identify possible sites,” she says.
