GOOD Media Statement by Sarah Mabotsa,
GOOD Mayoral Candidate for Tshwane
25 October 2021
Note to editors: This statement was given at the launch of the Tshwane Homeless Forum today at the Elim Full Gospel Church, Pretoria.
Thank you to the Tshwane Homeless Forum and partners, the University of Pretoria and the National Homeless Network, for inviting me today to this event.
The 10th of October was World Homeless Day. Whilst the persecution of homeless people in Cape Town has made worldwide headlines, homelessness is a serious challenge that all South African cities – including Tshwane – must address.
Homelessness has been made worse by the Covid pandemic. Many, like Mr Hennie Dippenaar from Springs, lost his work, income and, unable to afford rentals, also his homes. Hennie now sleeps under the stars instead of under a roof.
There are many causes of homelessness – including poverty, rising rents, domestic violence, mental health challenges and substance addiction. The homeless comprise diverse communities with diverse needs. Although there is not a one-size-fits-all solution, the place we must start at is one of dignity and kindness.
Sometimes, just a small act of kindness can make a huge difference.
In January this year, a 26-year-old Mechanical Engineering graduate of the University of Pretoria found himself homeless on the streets of Cape Town when a job opportunity, which he had travelled down for never materialized. Stuck in Cape Town, in a city where a car of someone who was feeding homeless people was torched, and where this week a homeless man was set alight, this young man managed to survive many months on the streets by collecting tins for recycling.
Only in July, through the efforts of a community worker, funded by kind local residents, and a ticket funded by the same local residents was he able to return to his family here in Pretoria.
The return of our Pretoria graduate is good news – but the reunification with his family was only made possible through the help of private residents rather than through any government social support.
The role of government must be to create an enabling environment to assist homeless people to live with dignity, to find shelter and to more easily reintegrate with our communities.
This is part of my GOOD plan for Tshwane – to create a responsible and caring government that provides for all our citizens, including our homeless residents. Not only is caring for those in need exactly what a good, ethical municipal government should do, but it also makes fiscal sense.
The University of Pretoria’s Professor Stephen de Beer reports that Tshwane has been closing down shelters, but what we should be doing is opening more shelters – because it is what is needed – and it will reduce costs!
Study after study has proven that, instead of leaving homeless people on the streets, it actually saves a LOT of public money to rather provide shelter and support. Therefore governments that don’t invest in shelters, affordable housing and support services are actually wasting public money.
Investing public money into programmes and infrastructure that yield real returns for us all means that Tshwane works and services become more, rather than less, affordable.
Sometimes assistance may simply be providing more shelters; but in other cases, shelters together with social support may be required.
Last month I met Sipho in Sammy Marks Square. He was hungry, shaking and asking for help, but being ignored by the people passing him by.
We spoke and he explained that he came from Newcastle and had been working as a gardener, but had not had his contract renewed during the lockdown. With no money for food or to travel back home, and ended up living on the street. He had recently moved to a shelter in Struben – in a building sheltering 300 people with a single tap and no ablution facilities.
In these abysmal circumstances, Sipho said he has become addicted to drugs. Another young boy I spoke to, Jacob, said he comes from Soshanguve. He had smoked dagga, but his friends mixed it with stronger drugs and he became an addict. Now he lives on the streets because he doesn’t want to steal money from his family or neighbours. He said he wants to quit and live a normal life again, but he doesn’t know how or where to get support.
Addiction is an illness that affects people across many communities. Without supportive, effective rehabilitation programmes, we condemn young people – and their families – to a lifetime of suffering. When we start to treat addiction as the illness that it is, we can start to help people recover from this sickness.
Because there are multiple reasons for why and how people become homeless, the pathways to reintegrating into their communities and securing safe, affordable shelter are also diverse. But they all start with affording dignity to everyone, regardless of income.
For those in danger of becoming homeless, we will ensure that services remain affordable and that there is an increased supply of affordable housing and social support or shelter spaces for women and children who suffer abuse in their homes. For those residents who already find themselves on the streets, government must facilitate the provision of more shelters linked with support systems where necessary to help people get off the streets and back on their feet.
GOOD’s leader, Patricia de Lille, has already released 4 buildings for women and children who are victims of gender-based violence in Tshwane.
As a property expert, one of my commitments during my first 100 days in office as Mayor is to review Tshwane’s property asset register and release land and buildings for more shelters. We will then begin to partner with NGOs to ensure that those organisations who know best how to assist are enabled to do so.
I would also just like to address the request for a mobile clinic. Because of apartheid spatial injustice, many people – not just the homeless – find themselves far away from places where good services are located.
GOOD is the only party that will make public transport free for everyone during off-peak periods. The buses run empty, and many people – pensioners, students and job-seekers who may be homeless or homed – need to get to clinics, libraries and job interviews.
Our buses run empty in the middle of the day and the public is already paying for them to operate, so we must open them up to allow those who need the service to work for them too.
I am committed to supporting the Tshwane Homeless Manifesto.
If I am elected Mayor, we will implement the steps I have outlined above to provide dignity, support, access and more shelters for Tshwane’s homeless and vulnerable people.
For media inquiries, please contact:
Ms Karabo Tledima, GOOD Media Manager
Cell: 061 794 3819
Email: karabot@forgood.org.za