The mayor of Cape Town has pledged to help the Department of Public Works (DPW) remove the vagrants living near the Castle of Good Hope.
Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis has written to Public Works Minister Sihle Zikalala, vowing to file an eviction application for the state-owned land surrounding the kasteel.
The historic site has become an eyesore in recent years as scores of homeless mense have set up tents and other makeshift shelters.
Hill-Lewis says: “Without an intervention to stop the further unlawful occupation, the Castle’s status as a top tourist destination and national landmark will be impacted, with a 90% drop in visitors already.
“There is no access to water, sanitation services, or electricity. The result is a three-fold consequence of risk to the health and safety of those unlawfully occupying it.”
The national government has so far failed to end the illegal occupation, triggering the City’s intervention.
When the Daily Voice arrived at the Castle on Tuesday, a paar manne were seen smoking drugs and refused to comment.
Venetia Orgil, from the Discover Your Power support group for the homeless, says simply moving the group elsewhere is not a solution.
“The City left this too late and now they are going to be sending [the homeless] in all directions,” she adds.
Since 2013, Orgil and her organisation have been providing homeless mense with free meals on Thursday evenings at the Harbour Arch on the Foreshore.
The City announced earlier this year it would be providing more than 300 shelter beds, and create two safe space centres, to help accommodate the city’s homeless in shelters in 2023.
However, Orgil said the City should provide alternative housing if it intends to evict those living at the Castle: “The City must give them accommodation but they won’t. It’s the same circle going round and round.”
Hill-Lewis said the City will go ahead and launch an eviction application on behalf of the DPW if no response is received from the department by June 16.
“The City will have to assume that the national government has neither the capacity nor the will to act in the public interest urgently in this matter, or at all, should Public Works fail to meet the deadline,” he adds.