Fewer homeless living in shelters

ALMOST 2 000 homeless people who were rescued in Gauteng at the beginning of the lockdown have either gone back to the streets or have been reunited with their families.

The provincial Social Development Department said they had removed and sheltered about 5 000 homeless individuals at the end of March, and they now had about 3 150 still housed at their places of safety where they continued to receive food and drug abuse assistance.

Departmental spokesperson Thabiso Hlongwane said: “When we started with this initiative of housing the homeless, we were sitting with 5 000 people in the whole of Gauteng, and today, I can confirm that we have 3 152 because some have been helped and they were reunited with their families.”

Hlonwange added that shelters allocated before were still available and that the homeless were provided with three meals a day.

“Yes, some have run back to the street, and the law enforcement departments must play their role if anyone contravenes the law. In the meantime, we will continue looking after them. Methadone is provided to those who are addicts.

“We are also happy that the Department of Sport and Recreation has come on board and provided them with books to upskill themselves,” he said.

However, according to the Joburg Metro Police Department (JMPD) and

Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo (JCPZ), there has not been much difference.

JCPZ spokesperson Jenny Moodley conceded that joint blitz operations with other departments had not yielded a positive outcome, with many returning to these open spaces.

“In line with the Covid-19 level 3 lockdown regulations, public parks and nature reserves remained closed, and people occupying these public spaces are contravening City of Joburg

Some of the homeless

people have been helped and they were reunited with their

families

by-laws.”

JMPD spokesperson Wayne Minnaar also said their efforts to clear city parks and open spaces had come to nought.

“Moving homeless people back to their shelter is something we do on a daily basis. We just don’t know why they keep returning to the parks because everything is provided for them at these shelters,” Minnaar said.

The City of Joburg said the key issue had been substance abuse and addiction.