Cape Town - The Haven Night Shelter in Cape Town’s CBD has expanded its number of bed spaces from 96 to 156.
Offering transitional sanctuary to help the homeless off the streets in the CBD and surrounding areas, including the Atlantic Seaboard zones, the shelter unveiled its upgraded facilities this week.
As one of the shelter’s stakeholders, the City of Cape Town donated R500 000 to the Haven to afford it an estimated 63% of its expansion.
The permanent expansion of the shelter’s facility, according to the City, will be coupled with various social services to support homeless people in their journey to get off the streets sustainably.
Community services and health Mayco member Patricia van der Ross said the City was glad to facilitate the assistance of more people living on the streets in a dignified manner.
“No person should suffer the indignity of living on the streets, and at the same time, no one has the right to unlawfully reserve public space for their exclusive use while indefinitely refusing all offers of shelter and support.”
In addition to sponsoring the Haven Night Shelter, the City also supports various non-profit organisations and has set aside R230 million to use over three years to expand and operate its own Safe Space transitional shelters.
The City’s current Safe Space facilities offer around 700 beds in the CBD and Bellville, along with a range of social interventions to reintegrate people into society.
“Cape Town is the only metro dedicating a social development budget to helping people off the streets, and we are committed to doing even more this year with a 23% increase to our programme budget, amounting to R94.75m for 23/24,” Van der Ross said.
While the City is celebrating a successful initiative, homelessness activist Carlos Mesquita said for the City to call the Haven or any of its city’s Safe Spaces transitional was false and misleading.
Mesquita said: “The mayor and City refuse to recognise that individuals should not even be in shelters at all but rather in permanent, serviced and supported care facilities.
“The mayor forgets to mention that the City has never felt it is important to have an accurate count and detailed assessment of those living on the streets.
“They don’t realise how insignificant their 700 beds are up against the 7 000 people living on the streets of the CBD alone.”