Cape Town delivered South Africa’s highest service reach to the homeless under lockdown
19 August 2020
The City of Cape Town delivered South Africa’s highest service reach to the homeless under lockdown, sheltering more than double the number of homeless compared to the whole of Gauteng. This is according to national Social Development statistics reported in Parliament.
We are therefore surprised that Brett Herron MPL raises an issue with the R44 million expenditure on weather-proof tents (at multiple sites across Cape Town) to shelter and care for the homeless under national lockdown regulations which explicitly mandated this.
Every rand was spent on caring for the homeless, with the following achieved:
- 1 352 homeless persons were provided with chronic and clinical treatment for conditions like TB, HIV, Diabetes, Hypertension and Epilepsy.
- 272 people tested for TB and 1 858 people screened for COVID-19
- Over 120 people re-integrated with their families
- 4 500 meals issued a day
- 2 000 mattresses and 2 000 blankets procured and distributed to every person
- Psycho-social services for substance users as part of the rehabilitation process
The City further disbursed R20 million Grant-in-Aid Funding to support homeless shelters, and a range of other NPO initiatives. Even more budget provision has been made to allow for rates relief for NPOs. All of this expenditure was for a good cause under a state of disaster, and the City’s only regret is that more funding in general from national government would’ve gone a long way to caring for the most vulnerable in our City. The City stood up and stepped in where others failed, precisely because we are a caring city.
The “GOOD” party is hypocritical in claiming to care for the homeless while attacking South Africa’s only metro that went well above and beyond to care for this vulnerable community. This is notwithstanding the fact that local governments do not hold the constitutional mandate over welfare or shelters as national and provincial governments do.
Issued by Media Office, City of Cape Town, 19 August 2020
