“By working with the homeless and most-vulnerable in Cape Town, we have witnessed just how in need our people are.”
Western Cape, South Africa (20 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.
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.”
GroundUp reported earlier in the year that the Western Cape government estimates greater Cape Town’s homeless population at about 5,000 homeless people, of whom 700 live in the city centre. These figures exclude the estimated 500 to 900 refugees and asylum seekers who were part of the sit-in protest at the UN High Commissioner for Refugees offices last year. This group is now divided between approximately 200 people living outside the Cape Town Central police station, and 300 to 700 people living inside the Central Methodist Church.
By working with the most-vulnerable in Cape Town during the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown, the City has witnessed just how in need the homeless are… and are putting even more measures in place to help them!
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