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A storm is brewing between the City of Cape Town and the Department of Public Works over the ‘squatter village’ that has blossomed around the historic Castle of Good Hope in Cape Town.

The city is insisting that Sihle Zikalala department remove the scores of people living around the area after they outright refused the City’s efforts to offer them alternative living accommodations. As can be expected, the department notes that it’s one of the issues they are dealing with.

But Cape Town has had enough of the illegally erected town that has sprouted like a colourful mushroom around one of the country’s oldest buildings. Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis has now said the City is prepared to launch an eviction application on behalf of Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Sihle Zikalala to ensure the relocation of the occupants.

The issue of homelessness has been front and centre in the news lately and brings up conflicting attitudes. The City of Cape Town (CoCT) has spent millions on providing shelter and work opportunities for many of the ‘street dwellers’, and to some extent, this has been successful in providing an alternative to many people who have occupied sidewalks and driveways in the city.

The City however said that the homeless have outright refused their efforts to relocate them over the last two years.

“The result is a three-fold consequence of risk to the health and safety of those unlawfully occupying it; the deprivation of access to public places for residents and tourists; and business flight from the affected areas.”

“Without an intervention to stop the further unlawful occupation, the castle’s status as a top tourist destination and national landmark will be impacted,” Hill-Lewis said. He noted that the castle, which is one of the oldest buildings in Cape Town, already experienced a 90% drop in visitor numbers.

Hill-Lewis gave Zikalala a deadline for a response by 16 June, failing which the City would have no option but to seek the appropriate relief from the court.

“We sincerely hope this will not be necessary and that you will instruct your officials – and the state attorney – to take the necessary urgent action to initiate court proceedings for an order to relocate the unlawful occupants around the castle and to ensure that the area is secured after relocation to prevent a similar occupation.”

Most Cape Townians are familiar with the sight of scores of people living on the grass and pavement around the Castle.

Nobody should have to face a Cape winter in such an exposed environment, and for this reason, the taxpayers have been giving their support to the city’s initiatives to help people relocate to better conditions. But the tax coffers in Cape Town will be running dry if tourists begin to snub the destination because of the litter and faeces that keep them from accessing the very places where they spend their dollars or pounds.

Zikalala however warned against overzealous and reckless postures that only serve to exacerbate challenges rather than resolve them. His department had ‘already intensified Operation Bring Back programme, which aims to reclaim all illegally occupied state properties.’

Housing lobby group Ndifuna Ukwazi, said the City needs to develop an integrated housing system that accommodates people in different stages of housing needs.  The group says that ‘while the core objective may be to provide a temporary measure against homelessness, in reality, people need the stability and safety of a private home as a platform to overcome difficult circumstances.’

The homeless situation in Cape Town is a multi-faceted social problem that has no quick fixes. We need lasting solutions that respect the rights of the most vulnerable.

Let’s just not forget that the rest of Cape Townians have rights as well.

[source:news24]