Homeless individuals find a place of safety and support at Cape Town’s new Safe Spaces. Picture: David Ritchie
More than 150 homeless individuals from various illegal occupation sites in Cape Town’s CBD have accepted the City’s offer of shelter at its Safe Spaces.
This follows a Western Cape High Court order granting the eviction of unlawful occupants across several hotspots in the CBD.
The City will facilitate voluntary relocations to these transitional shelters from August 5 to 9, with evictions scheduled to proceed after August 12 for those who remain.
The eviction order targets areas including Buitengracht Street, FW De Klerk Boulevard, Helen Suzman Boulevard, and Mill Street Bridge.
The new 300-bed Ebenezer Safe Space will take 127 people, while 26 will move to Culemborg Safe Space 2. The City’s Safe Spaces now provide 1,070 beds, with plans to add more. This includes the new facility in Green Point and another planned for Muizenberg.
The Safe Spaces initiative is supported by additional shelters run by organisations such as MES and The Haven, which provide further capacity in the Northern Suburbs.
MES operates three Safe Spaces, offering a combined total of 144 beds across Bellville, Parow, and Durbanville.
Meanwhile, The Haven has approximately 70 emergency beds available, which will be offered to those being evicted. Altogether, these efforts bring the total available spaces across the City to over 1,280.
Residents at Safe Spaces receive shelter, ablution facilities, and two meals a day. They also get support from social workers, help with ID documents and social grants, and family reunification services.
Those with addiction issues have access to treatment programmes, including the City’s successful Matrix programme.
Residents can join skills training and job placement programmes, including the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP), to help them reintegrate into society and find long-term stability.
“We are pleased that the majority of people have accepted the offer of dignified Safe Space transitional shelter. They will also have access to medical care, social workers, substance abuse treatment, family reunification services, EPWP work, and personal development programmes to help them leave the streets for good,” said Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis.
The City is investing R220 million in the next three years to expand its Safe Space facilities.
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