DSD to fund Ekurhuleni’s homeless strategy

The City of Ekurhuleni’s District Development Model estimates that unemployment in the City is 31.2 per cent.

The number of unemployed individuals has increased squatters, vagrants and those living on the streets. In response to the NEWS’s request for an update on the City of Ekurhuleni’s plan on dealing with squatters and the homeless in the region, the CoE provided a detailed response on what it hopes to do.

When previously asked about dealing with and assisting the homeless and vagrants, the City responded in January and said, “The City does not have an alternative shelter for the homeless.”

At the time, the divisional head of communication and media relations of the CoE, Nhlanhla Cebekhulu, said the CoE is working in partnership with the Gauteng Department of Social Development to craft a policy.

Most recently, Cebekhulu said the CoE does not have the resources to administer the homeless programme. “The Provincial Department of Social Development is funding the programme.”

Cebekhulu said although the Provincial Homeless Strategy document has not been finalised, the Gauteng City Comprehensive Plan on the Homeless was approved by the executive committee in the 2020/21 financial year.

ALSO READ: No help for the homeless yet

He said consultation has been ongoing since the plan was approved. “What emanates from these consultations will be used to determine the possible completion date,” said Cebekhulu. Cebekhulu emphasised the Gauteng’s City Comprehensive Plan on Homeless will be used as a guideline for implementation of the programme.”
He said the draft strategy addresses the current situational analysis and proposed programmes to be implemented. Emphasis is on the integrated approach to the homeless, which involves working with all stakeholders, including civil society.

The following pillars form the core of the envisaged strategy:

• Pillar one – Advocacy, education and awareness.
• Pillar two – Provision of shelter/housing to prevent and support homeless people.
• Pillar three – Social inclusion.
• Pillar four – Economic inclusion.
• Pillar five – Skills Development.

Speaking on what was the largest cause of unemployment in the City region before the Covid-19 pandemic, Cebekhulu said most citizens were affected by the economic downturn.
“To be more specific, it was the economic downturn, which affected manufacturing and other sectors of the economy,” he added.

Cebekhulu highlighted that even though the City is working in partnership with provincial DSD, a turnaround plan will be tabled by the executive mayor when he delivers the State of the City Address.

When Hart spoke to the NEWS about the issue of homelessness in Ekurhuleni, she said although the framework for a policy is in place, the City does not want to finalise it because of the responsibility associated with it.

In response to this, Cebekhulu said, “Unfortunately, we cannot respond on what Clr Heather Hart has said. The issue of dealing with vagrants and homeless individuals is a provincial mandate.”

As your trusted community newspaper, the NEWS receives several enquiries regarding the homeless. Although the local media is a platform to inform the community and keep them updated, it does not have the power to physically remove homeless individuals. However, it does have the power to hold the municipality and those in power accountable.

At the NEWS, we want to ensure consistent and quality feedback from the City in response to our media queries. To monitor this, the NEWS is introducing a five-star rating system.
Once we relay our readers’ pressing questions to the CoE, we will be rating their response according to a five-star scoring system allocated as follows.

Two stars will equate to all questions answered (either direct or indirect); two stars will equate to the relevancy of answers to questions posed, and the remaining star will be attributed to adherence to the deadline for comment.

As Cebekhulu served in this discord, the NEWS rated this reply with four stars = two stars for questions answered, one star for answer relevancy; one star for deadline met.

Also follow us on: