Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis has announced the City’s approval of funding for another new Safe Space shelter. The facility will serve the broader Muizenberg area, offering dignified transitional shelter and social interventions to help the homeless off the streets.
The Mayoral Fund will donate R4m to make the Muizenberg Safe Space a reality, with a private donor undertaking to match this amount. These start-up funds will enable the operation of the site for an initial three years by U-Turn, a not-for-profit organisation which runs similar programmes in the city.
The terms of a proposed lease for an appropriate municipal site are currently being assessed for the forthcoming Safe Space. A public participation process will follow regarding the lease and any necessary planning approvals will be sought depending on the nature of the site.
City-funded Safe Spaces offer dignified transitional shelter and social programmes to assist people off the streets sustainably, reintegrate them into society, and reunite them with family. Personal development planning and employment opportunities are made available, as are referrals for mental health, medical, and substance abuse treatment.
‘We are pleased to donate R4m from the Mayoral Fund towards a Muizenberg Safe Space, which will be the sixth dignified transitional shelter facility opened by the City.
‘Over R220 million in the next three years will go to expanding and operating our Safe Spaces shelters around the City. The imminent opening of our new 300-bed Safe Space in Green Point will increase the total beds to 1 070 across our five facilities in the CBD, Bellville, and Durbanville areas.
‘Accepting social assistance to get off the streets is the best choice for dignity, health, and well-being. No person has the right to reserve a public space as exclusively theirs, while indefinitely refusing all offers of shelter and social assistance,’ said Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis.
‘The City already helps around 3 500 people annually with shelter placement or referrals to an array of social services. We look forward to expanding these services to help many more people off the streets in the broader Muizenberg area in partnership with the community and civil society,’ said Councillor Patricia van der Ross, Mayoral Committee Member for Community Services and Health.
The City’s Safe Space model includes:
· dignified shelter,
· comfort and ablutions,
· two meals per day,
· access to a social worker on-site,
· personal development planning,
· various social services including ID Book and social grant assistance,
· family reunification services
· access to substance and alcohol abuse treatment,
· skills training,
· help finding a job, and
· access to EPWP work placement
