When you hop into bed, with two duvets and an electric blanket for warmth, spare a thought for Cape Town’s homeless population.

The City of Cape Town, along with some organisations that look to help these people, have in the past stressed that giving money directly to those on the streets is a bad idea.

Not everyone is in agreement with that approach, but what is unanimously agreed upon is that the city has more homeless people than it can help.

Most recently, the City’s approach to its homeless came under fire, when it emerged that fines were being issued to those who transgressed certain by-laws.

The reasons for homelessness are numerous and varied (some spoke with IOL here), but it appears that the City is not backing down.

These photos were taken opposite the Castle at the bottom of Strand Street at 10:30AM today, and show Metro Police cracking down on homeless people in the area:

In one of their statements, the City of Cape Town pointed out that they’re not targetting the homeless, but merely enforcing by-laws that are in place.

Here’s some of that from back in early July via EWN:

In an official statement from MMC for Safety and Security JP Smith and MMC for Community Services and Health Zahid Badroodien, the city said it was not illegal to be homeless and street people were entitled to freedom of movement. However, the city explained they were expected to abide by the laws of the country and the by-laws of the city – particularly the by-law relating to streets, public places and prevention of noise nuisances.

It also said the by-law was promulgated in 2007 and and that the fines were set by the Department of Justice, and not the city.

In its defence, Smith and Badroodien said Cape Town was one of the few administrations that had invested in the plight of the homeless through a host of interventions in the last decade.

These include services such as, but not limited to, field workers who spend their days reaching out to street people, offering assistance with access to social services, including temporary shelter, IDs, social grants and temporary employment opportunities…

It also said an increase in the number of homeless people had been an issue.

“For several years, we have been focusing strongly on social development, as the myriad interventions attest to.
However, the dynamics on our streets have changed for a number of reasons, including an increase in the number of parolees being released by the Correctional Services Department, as well as an increase in the number of foreign nationals on the streets, due to a non-functioning immigration service.”

There is no easy fix to this problem, but it’s pretty jarring to see those already down and out on their luck being questioned by Metro police.

Photographs sent in by Blaze Nintendo.

[source:ewn]