Claims CoCT Safe Space shelter is rat-infested and unsanitary
The City has responded to the claims, saying the accommodation is 'materially and substantially better' than respondents continuing to sleep on the streets.
FILE: A homeless person sleeping on a bench. Picture: Chaivit Chana / 123rf
John Maytham is joined by Daily Maverick journalist Tamsin Metelerkamp.
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Click here to read Metelerkamp's article
Rat bites, wet beds, toilets filled with faeces.
Those are the conditions residents of a Safe Space Shelter at the Foreshore claim to be living in.
The shelter is one of four run by the City of Cape Town.
Daily Maverick journalist Tamsin Metelerkamp has spoken to several residents about the conditions at the Safe Space One shelter.
One of them told her it is a 'travesty of human rights’.
"Occupants say bedding is wet, belongings are wet...they say there are a lot of rats in the space, just overall unsanitary conditions."
Tamsin Metelerkamp, Journalist - Daily Maverick
The shelter, under the Culemborg Bridge on the Cape Town Foreshore falls under the City's so-called 'Safe Spaces', described as 'temporary transitional accommodation for people living on the streets'.
According to the City, it has an annual operational budget of R8.5 million.
Metelerkamp explains that unlike some other 'bricks and mortar' shelters and facilities, the Safe Space One shelter is essentially open to the elements.
"Rather than having solid walls and a roof as part of the shelter, they have these corrugated iron rooves and poles with no walls."
Tamsin Metelerkamp, Journalist - Daily Maverick
The City of Cape Town was invited to take part in the conversation on CapeTalk, but declined, saying no-one was available.
They sent the following comments in response to the allegations made in the Daily Maverick article:
Regarding overcrowding:
All the City’s Safe Spaces have specified capacities which are not exceeded. The facilities do tend to be at capacity during inclement weather in winter.
Regarding pest control:
The City has appointed a contractor for monthly pest control services at both Culemborg safe spaces.
Regarding rain and leaks:
The sleeping quarters are protected and not wet, upgrades already complete in this regard. Further upgrades to all the City’s Safe Spaces will be completed in the next few months
Regarding health and safety regulations compliance:
All the City’s Safe Spaces are monitored for legislative compliance on an ongoing basis.
Safe Space shelter vs the streets
Safe Space accommodation at any of the City’s facilities is materially and substantially better than the conditions under which the respondents find themselves currently.
"If we have residents of that space saying that it is in fact not safe and not dignfied then we should be taking the time to ask what might be going wrong."
Tamsin Metelerkamp, Journalist - Daily Maverick
"The exact words that one of the individuals used while we were chatting during the interview is, we're not requesting five-star hotels."
Tamsin Metelerkamp, Journalist - Daily Maverick
As per the Daily Maverick: [the publication] requested the city’s permission to arrange a visit to Safe Space One on Thursday, 11 July.
It responded, “While the city does occasionally invite media to planned visits to SS1 and SS2, ad hoc media access is not permissible as a general principle to safeguard the dignity of those who take up dignified transitional shelter at these facilities, often in difficult and complex circumstances.”
A visit to the site was later approved but has not yet taken place says Metelerkamp.
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