Homeless mense in the CBD facing eviction

In an attempt to remove scores of homeless people from as many as 10 locations in the CBD, the City of Cape Town has been granted a court application to serve eviction notices.

The City filed legal papers in the Western Cape High Court for the unlawful occupations in public spaces.

The eviction notices are expected to be served prior to the matter being heard in April.

The areas where illegal “tent cities” have sprouted include hotspots along Buitengracht Street, FW de Klerk Boulevard, Foregate Square, Taxi Rank and Foreshore, Helen Suzman Boulevard, Strand Street, Foreshore/N1, Virginia Avenue and Mill Street Bridge in the city.

According to Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis, the City approached the court as a last resort, in cases where all offers of support have been refused by homeless mense.

These offers include addiction treatment, referral for psychiatric treatment, and job opportunities and transitional shelter at NGO-run night shelters and City-run safe spaces.

Some people accepted the offers while others “persistently” rejected them.

“No person has the right to reserve a public space as exclusively theirs, while indefinitely refusing all offers of shelter and social assistance,” Hill-Lewis said.

“Illegal occupations of City open spaces impact the safety of traffic and pedestrians, as well as local businesses critical to growing the economy.”

But according to activist Carlos Mesquita, the owner of CM Homeless Consultant & Homeless Solutions, by evicting the people before the court hearing in April, the City will get away with not explaining how it went about helping homeless mense.

“Basically what they are doing is moving them from one place to another, they are not solving the situation that we currently have.”

[email protected]