The CCID's security division discovered a structure in a tree near the fountain in Heerengracht Service Road, opposite Pier Square in the city centre towards the end of December.
Muneeb Hendricks, the CCID's security manager, said the CCID security team, while conducting a routine check on December 30, had found two homeless men living in the treehouse.
"When asked why they had chosen to build their temporary shelter in a tree, they replied that the CCID teams patrol the streets regularly and remove all illegal structures.
| 'Law enforcement is a blunt, stupid tool' |
He said the security team called for back-up from the CCID social department but the homeless pair refused all offers of assistance, including alternative accommodation.
He said the social department unit had been active in the rehabilitation and the re-integration of homeless people.
"It's a long-term solution," said Hendricks.
He said the CCID, in conjunction with its law enforcement partners, including the police, private security companies, Metro Police and traffic police, planned and executed an average of 10 specialised operations per week.
Meanwhile some homeless people in the city centre told the Cape Argus that not much had changed for them and that dodging city security was part of their daily routine.
Seeking shade beneath a tree in Cape Town's Gardens on Thursday, Wayne Levendal, 31, who has been living on the streets for five years, said he slept in various parts of the city.
He said most of the homeless people he knew would find a spot to sleep at night but would make their way to Sea Point's Beach Road during the day while some would operate in Long Street at night.
He said he did not notice any changes in the number of homeless people on the streets.
"Some people find it difficult to go back home because of problems they are having.
"It's not easy to make the right choice," he said.
Emily Paulse, 45, who has lived on the streets in the city for 20 years, said she stayed in a night shelter now, and during the day she wandered around the city with her husband. "Every day is a struggle, but I have been struggling for so many years already."
Security guard Yoliswa Njeza who patrols in the Company's Garden said she often found homeless people sleeping at the gate entrances of the garden in the mornings and when they closed up at 10pm.
Two groups of children between the ages of 13 and 15 who had been wandering around town told the Cape Argus that they only came into the city during the day.
They said they travelled in groups, taking a train, mainly from Delft, but went home in the afternoons.
Mayoral committee member for safety and security JP Smith has been actively involved with the homeless and street children.
He insists upon rehabilitation for the homeless and said that law enforcement's arbitrary arrests of the homeless to have them released in the morning is not a solution to the problem.
| 'We need development solutions...' |
"Law enforcement is a blunt, stupid tool that doesn't work. We need development solutions. The only way to help them is to force them off the streets," Smith said. - Cape Argus
No comments:
Post a Comment