Tshwane homeless opt out of lockdown shelters

The homeless, rounded up and sheltered at various facilities during the peak of the Covid-19, have seemingly disappeared with the hard lockdown, back to their normal lives on the streets.

The temporary tent shelters erected in mainly stadiums in Tshwane, including the ones in Caledonian and Trans Oranje stadiums, have mainly been abandoned, expect for a few that come back to sleep at night.

According to Sihle Ndzuza, 33, he and four others in his group were rounded up by Metro police and taken to the Trans Oranje rugby stadium, west of the city, but he said there were safety and food problems at the facility.

“The only reason we stayed was because police were patrolling the streets, but the place was chaotic. When you had to eat you needed to fight because there was not enough food and others had weapons,” he said.

Ndzuza, who has lived on the streets of Pretoria for the past five years, is from Mpumalanga and survives by washing taxis at Bloed Taxi rank in the Pretoria CBD.

He said there was a time when they were abandoned for days with little food and no security.

According to Ndzuza, though, it was good to have a place to sleep, bath and a warm meal for a change. But overcrowding became a problem as authorities brought in more people.

Soon clashes broke out over food, missing items and drugs.

“We would have a meal in the morning but there would not be enough for later on and that was when people started pushing and shoving. Like many others, I decided to leave after the easing of lockdown,” Ndzuza said.

Tshwane MMC for community and social development services Thabisile Vilakazi said not everyone has left and many people had settled into the temporary shelters, including community halls and churches.

She said since the facilities being used would have to be returned to their original purposes at some stage, the ultimate plan was to bring a permanent solution to the housing of the homeless.

Vilakazi said the oversight on the social development department fell within the provincial ambit when the metro was placed under administration.

She said her priority was now to set up a special homeless unit within her department that would be responsible for handling the process of housing the homeless.

“We have identified six facilities across all the regions for the purpose of sheltering the homeless. What we have realised is that people in the city centre are from across our regions so we have identified facilities there,” she said.

Vilakazi said some of the facilities were already there but in need of refurbishment and that some belonged to the Gauteng provincial department.

When you had to eat you needed to fight