Prince Pruim, putting up his shelter after it was blown away by wind. Photo: Bernard Chiguvare
12 October 2016
“We have never heard of this day, but if there is such a day then we expect help from the government,” said Siwa.
For Greg Andrews, convenor of the Street People Forum, World Homeless Day is an opportunity to urge policy makers, property owners, law-enforcers and citizens to have the interest of the homeless people at heart and not criminalise people for being homeless.
Andrews said homeless people relied on public spaces to perform actions which others did in private, such as bathing, eating, sleeping and washing clothes. Yet city by-laws often made these actions illegal.
Siwa, 55, one of about 20 people living on the open ground near the station, said City of Cape Town law enforcement officers often forced the homeless away from their shelters.
She left the family house in Gugulethu after disputes with other family members and now lives from handouts and whatever she can find in rubbish bins. During the day she walks around Wynberg in search of food.
Rodger Ward, 32, was rushing to fetch water with a 10 litre plastic container. He did not want to say where he went to find water.
“All I need from the government is to give me a home or leave me where I am, and not take my stuff when I am away,” said Ward, who lost his job and does not want to live with his family in Cape Town.
Prince Pluim, from Johannesburg, was busy rebuilding his plastic structure which had been blown away by the wind. A former prisoner, he has lived on the open land near the station for seven years.
“Most people, even the government, do not worry about the plight of the street people,” he said, complaining that homeless people’s possessions are thrown away by City law enforcement officers.
He survives by begging and working as a car guard in Wynberg. He said he could no longer work because of an injury to his shoulder.
“My family members are in Johannesburg but I feel comfortable staying here in Cape Town,” Pluim said.
Councillor Suzette Little, the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Social Development and Early Childhood Development, said residents and visitors should not give handouts to street people directly. She urged them instead to uplift street people by donating to the organisations who have made it their mission to reintegrate these individuals into society.
Giving money or food directly helped people to sustain their life on the street, she said, while donations to the organisations who work to assist street people helped to facilitate their reintegration into society.