The call for a homeless shelter is a big need in the West Coast.
Residents have raised their concerns about the homeless on the streets with no success to date.
Chrisna du Plessis, founder of Siyabonga Care Village in Vredenburg, told Weslander that years ago she started research on the establishment of a shelter within Vredenburg. Du Plessis said she is a great supporter of establishing a shelter, but one of the challenges is funding.
“We have the admin skills to run a shelter and will be able to get bedding and everything else needed, but the biggest challenge is the monthly funding to run the shelter,” she said.
Sammy Springleer, chairperson of the Vredenburg Security and Business Forum, said there are animal shelters within the Saldanha Bay Municipality area, but a lack of shelters when it comes to the homeless and this got him thinking.
“As an active community and Neighbourhood Watch member, our team encounters the homeless every night. During the day they wander around town begging and some look out for activities that will bring in a quick buck,” said Springleer.
“Not all homeless people are criminals as we experienced. I know that homelessness is a world-wide problem, but it does not mean everyone must look away and ignore it.”
Esther Lewis from the Department of Social Development (DSD) said they currently subsidise 37 existing shelters for homeless adults (owned and operated by NGOs) around the province. Lewis said the subsidies include funding for a social worker post at each shelter, nutrition and operational costs. “Services provided by social workers inside shelters include reunification services reunifying people with their families as well as referrals to other services such as counselling or substance use disorder treatment, health services and more. “In addition to funding to shelters, the department provides prevention and early intervention services.”
Residents have been hard at work behind the scenes trying to establish a shelter and making contact with the Saldanha Bay Municipality (SBM) about the issue. According to Tereza Burger, spokesperson for SBM, the establishment or setting up of a shelter that provides for the homeless is not the mandate of the municipality. “However, Saldanha Bay Municipality is constantly in discussion with various inter-departmental role players, such as DSD, to actively look for solutions to this challenge,” she said.
Springleer added that how a society treats its most vulnerable, whether children or the infirm, the elderly is always the measure of its humanity. “When a society begins to disregard the vulnerable and their rights, instability and conflict will grow. I pray that something can be done in this regard.”
