City of Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis has welcomed the Western Cape High Court’s granting of an eviction order to remove homeless people from the CBD.
The order prohibits the unlawful occupation of public spaces in the City centre from August 1, 2024.
Hill-Lewis says they have provided dignified transitional shelters at the city’s Safe Spaces.
“We have built what we call the city’s safe spaces. So they are dormitory-style accommodation with bunk beds. They’ll provide two hot meals per day, a social worker on-site to offer care every single day.”
“They offer a nursing sister once a week, referrals for addiction treatment and alcohol and drug treatment. They offer a whole lot of training programmes for job finding and helping to get your ID and so on. So they are actually really wonderful facilities. We’ve built a lot of them over the last two years precisely with this in mind,” Hill-Lewis adds.
This excerpt of the High Court judgment is worth reading, esp. para 7.
I’m really encouraged by these comments on the City’s efforts on homelessness. We have worked so hard at this these last two years, and to see that new approach recognised by the High Court is heartening. pic.twitter.com/bKFwe2oAXa
— Geordin Hill-Lewis (@geordinhl) June 20, 2024
