The City of Cape Town wants to talk to the police about the mass arrests of street people this week.
On Wednesday, 41 street people were arrested in the city centre. Police said they were "repeat offenders" and not actual homeless people.
And on Thursday night a CID van was seen dropping homeless people in Harrison Street in the city centre. The people told the Cape Argus they had been picked up in Gardens and near the Cape Town central police station. They said they were often picked up and dropped in the city's side-streets by the CID for no apparent reason.
Sometimes, they were dropped along De Waal Drive.
But the CID has denied allegations of any wrongdoing, even though a number of homeless people said they were being continually harassed.
Grant Pascoe, the mayoral committee member responsible for social development, said the city had investigated whether any city officials had been involved in the operation and had found that none were.
"We would like to meet police and discuss what happened here," said Pascoe.
NGOs say the homeless people, as the most vulnerable in society, are not being heard and law-enforcement officials are increasingly harassing homeless people.
Police spokesman Captain Ezra October denied that street people had been targeted during the operation. October stressed that the 41 people arrested were "repeat offenders" who were known to police.
Many homeless people who spoke to the Cape Argus said they were often arrested under the so-called PK Law. October explained that this law was referred to when people refused to obey an instruction from a police officer.
"They were asked to move and did not do so. Anyone can be arrested under that law; we did not target street people. This is untrue. Criminal elements have infiltrated the street people in the city."
At a meeting at the Scalabrini Centre, scores of homeless people spoke of how law- enforcement officials were dealing with them. While both the city and the CID's social development departments were dealing with people in a caring manner, it was law enforcement officials who were unnecessarily harsh with them.
"The mandate of the Central City Development District's security department is to target criminals and criminal behaviour in the city centre.
"We clearly differentiate between criminal and anti-social behaviour and we deal with each differently," said Tasso Evangelinos, chief operations officer of the CCID.
"Each has its own consequences, being sentenced by a criminal or community court for instance. A person urinating in public or drinking and harassing people will be taken to the community court for sentencing."
A homeless woman said at the meeting: "They took everything. I didn't even have a pair of shoes. All these clothes have been donated to me; now I have to lock up all my stuff in the cathedral."
Cape Town Partnership spokeswoman Petro Mostert confirmed that the CCID had helped the police arrest 41 people on Wednesday. But the CCID denied that any of its security officials were confiscating clothing, blankets, personal belongings or harassing people living on the streets.
Linzi Thomas, who has spent 12 years working with homeless people, said she often heard that people were being continually harassed, especially in Sea Point.
On Wednesday, 41 street people were arrested in the city centre. Police said they were "repeat offenders" and not actual homeless people.
And on Thursday night a CID van was seen dropping homeless people in Harrison Street in the city centre. The people told the Cape Argus they had been picked up in Gardens and near the Cape Town central police station. They said they were often picked up and dropped in the city's side-streets by the CID for no apparent reason.
Sometimes, they were dropped along De Waal Drive.
But the CID has denied allegations of any wrongdoing, even though a number of homeless people said they were being continually harassed.
Grant Pascoe, the mayoral committee member responsible for social development, said the city had investigated whether any city officials had been involved in the operation and had found that none were.
"We would like to meet police and discuss what happened here," said Pascoe.
NGOs say the homeless people, as the most vulnerable in society, are not being heard and law-enforcement officials are increasingly harassing homeless people.
Police spokesman Captain Ezra October denied that street people had been targeted during the operation. October stressed that the 41 people arrested were "repeat offenders" who were known to police.
Many homeless people who spoke to the Cape Argus said they were often arrested under the so-called PK Law. October explained that this law was referred to when people refused to obey an instruction from a police officer.
"They were asked to move and did not do so. Anyone can be arrested under that law; we did not target street people. This is untrue. Criminal elements have infiltrated the street people in the city."
At a meeting at the Scalabrini Centre, scores of homeless people spoke of how law- enforcement officials were dealing with them. While both the city and the CID's social development departments were dealing with people in a caring manner, it was law enforcement officials who were unnecessarily harsh with them.
"The mandate of the Central City Development District's security department is to target criminals and criminal behaviour in the city centre.
"We clearly differentiate between criminal and anti-social behaviour and we deal with each differently," said Tasso Evangelinos, chief operations officer of the CCID.
"Each has its own consequences, being sentenced by a criminal or community court for instance. A person urinating in public or drinking and harassing people will be taken to the community court for sentencing."
A homeless woman said at the meeting: "They took everything. I didn't even have a pair of shoes. All these clothes have been donated to me; now I have to lock up all my stuff in the cathedral."
Cape Town Partnership spokeswoman Petro Mostert confirmed that the CCID had helped the police arrest 41 people on Wednesday. But the CCID denied that any of its security officials were confiscating clothing, blankets, personal belongings or harassing people living on the streets.
Linzi Thomas, who has spent 12 years working with homeless people, said she often heard that people were being continually harassed, especially in Sea Point.
- Cape Argus
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