Court order on street people welcomed
Homeless tell of being harassed and having their personal documents seized by metro police – but a landmark judgment by the North Gauteng High Court could put an end to police harassment. Nabeelah Shaikh reports
WHEN police confiscate goods belonging to homeless people living on the streets, they perpetuate a cycle of hopelessness. Often, the seized goods contain ID books and matric certificates.
This is a picture emerging from interviews with a group of homeless people at Durban’s Dennis Hurley Centre and a court ruling in Gauteng restraining police from harassing a group in a Pretoria park.
“Just a month ago, I was badly beaten by metro police and had all my valuables and documents confiscated,” said Charles Maduna, who visits the centre for meals.
Among the documents he lost was a registration certificate from the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority, enabling him to apply for jobs as a security guard.
“Many of us ended up on the streets after leaving our homes to come to the city in search of work. We end up getting harassed by police, even being robbed of our belongings,” he said. “We then lose our identity because we have no proof of who we are.”
Maduna was among others who this week welcomed a landmark judgment in the North Gauteng High Court which ordered metro police to pay compensation to a group of 24 homeless people whose belongings had been confiscated in a clean-up.
The court ruled that confiscation of goods was illegal.
The order, which is viewed as a precedent-setting case, came about when Lawyers for Human Rights applied for an interdict to halt operations in a Pretoria park.
On February 20, Tshwane City’s waste management department and metro police went to the park where homeless people sleep. They removed personal property, including ID books, cellphones and clothes.
On behalf of the 24 applicants, Lawyers for Human Rights applied for an interdict to prevent illegal harassment, and damages for the violation of constitutional rights, in particular homeless persons’ rights to dignity.
Following the application, the City of Tshwane undertook not to violate their rights in future and if it needed to do clean-up operations, it would do so in consultation with Lawyers for Human Rights.
Louise du Plessis, who brought the application, said she hoped it would be used to set a precedent for other municipalities. “Taking away the belongings of anybody, homeless or not, is considered theft and should never be done. Councils need to realise this.”
Several welfare groups have welcomed the court ruling, as have many destitute people forced to live on the streets while seeking work.
Denis Hurley Centre manager Raymond Perrier said the centre was talking to another rights NGO about bringing a similar application against the ethekwini Municipality.
“There’s a lot that the homeless have to deal with in the city and an application of this nature is what needs to happen here. Some police officials seem to have a general attitude that the homeless are not citizens, not humans, that they should not be treated with dignity. This is unacceptable and needs to change.”
Bongani Madida, who started a Homeless Forum with the centre, called on ethekwini mayor Zandile Gumede to get involved.
“We wrote to her last month crying out for help and asking her to get involved, to meet us to find solutions to how we can deal with the plight of the homeless. We delivered a letter to her but have yet to receive a reply,” said Madida.
ethekwini metro police spokesperson Parboo Sewpersad said city stakeholders were looking at ways of dealing with issues affecting the homeless in Durban. He said metro police adopted a tough approach to the homeless only when they refused to co-operate during clean-up operations.
Professor Monique Marks of the Durban University of Technology’s Urban Features Centre said the city was fixated on getting rid of the homeless as opposed to dealing with the broader issues.
“Just two weeks ago, the homeless were displaced by police. It’s a serious human rights issue to displace them because the street is home to some people. The city, which is meant to be the protector of the people, is turning a blind eye to the homeless,” she said.