The City’s homeless crisis was threatening to become our next pandemic.
Last week, city bosses finally got the legal go-ahead to remove dozens of homeless people from the CBD’s streets, by force if necessary.
The group outside the Castle will remain untouched though, because the land falls under the ambit of the National Government.
This means the others that are being evicted, can in theory simply just relocated to the Castle.
But now that the DA is part of national government, this might be easier said than done.
I have written about the City’s homeless issue many times before.
At one point, I counted more than a dozen such informal communities in a 10km radius between Three Anchor Bay and Observatory.
It is troubling, because these are the early signs of urban decay that our city bosses should’ve taken note of long ago. It’s also sad, because these are clearly people with very few options open to them.
I am not anti-poor or anti-homeless by any stretch. To the contrary. Along with the homeless themselves, I would like to see their dignity restored.
Speaking of which, I have on a previous occasion wondered why the City leaves these evictions for the very coldest months of the year.
It just seems unnecessarily cruel and inhumane to me.
Be that as it may, the situation was slowly growing into something wholly unmanageable.
Now at least there seems to be a plan. Get them into a sort of half-way house situation for a short while, during which time they will presumably have to find alternative accommodation.
I fear this may end up simply being the streets again, but this time just further outside the city limits, triggering an endless loop of legal action displacing the already displaced.
Perhaps a long-term solution should start with addressing the controversially obvious.
Allocate ongoing psychological help to those addicted to substances, followed by dedicated hygiene facilities.
Addressing these basic issues will help create purpose and restore dignity.
No dignified person wants to live in squalor on the streets. It will take time to reach the tipping point when moving them to decent housing will actually make a difference to them.
It can’t be that on the one hand, we celebrate being voted the most beautiful city in the world, while on the other, some of our fellow Capetonians are surviving on resentful handouts.