Ward councillor demands answer about Ward 98’s homeless shelters
Ward 98 councillor Beverley Jacobs did an oversight visit of the homeless shelters in her ward, and was disappointed by what she found. She promised to continue to advocate for dynamic shelters, which should offer a range of services beyond mere accommodation.
Ward 98 councillor Beverley Jacobs and Nomzekelo Mohamed, a Democratic Alliance (DA) committee member, conducted an oversight visit to various shelters in the city.
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Among the shelters visited was the Windsor West Shelter, which was the party’s initiative in 2019, and also falls under Ward 98. The shelter takes up to 35 homeless people, providing them with food and a place to bath and wash clothes. It also has a garden where they grow their own food. The ward councillor said that there were compliance issues, and that is one the reasons why they were doing the oversight, to follow up at their section 79 committee meetings.
The facility is currently facing some challenges, including water being cut off for two weeks, and waste management issues, which are a health hazard at the facility.
Jacobs explained that they turned the facility from a recreation centre into a shelter, amidst a lot of community grumblings, and it has turned out to be the best thing they could have done. In 2019, to increase the capacity of the facility, the Johannesburg Property Company (JPC) put two container houses, with room for close to 70 people, containing toilets, showers and bedrooms, at the back of the facility, but, six years later, they remain vacant.
“These [containers] have never been used, for over five years now. There has been no maintenance as well. Some of the safety equipment, like the fire extinguishers, have expired. It is a waste to see these beautiful container houses, which could take on additional homeless people, being left to go to ruin.”
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Jacobs added that this was a wasteful expenditure, in terms of taxpayer’s money. “They spent a lot of money on this. This can give a lot of people a place to get back on their feet, but the city won’t do what they’re mandated to do.”
JPC was sent questions regarding the containers, but have not replied by the time of print.
At other shelters, like Kotze Overnight Shelter, the councillor found that the facility is closed. At the Displaced Persons’ Shelter, construction has stalled, amid allegations that local communities are unhappy about being excluded from project opportunities.
“These projects can provide shelter to countless displaced persons; hence, we will continue to advocate for its completion. We will continue to advocate for dynamic shelters that should offer a range of services beyond mere accommodation, including rehabilitation programmes, life skills development, job assistance, and help with accessing essential documents to facilitate reintegration into society.”
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