ECID comments on alleged assault
He was not harmed in any way and only the pile of rubbish that filled an entire trailer was removed.
At the request of the chairman of the Edenvale City Improvement District (ECID) board, Doctor Paolo Agostinetto, the comment provided below by the ECID manager, Linda McKenzie, is published verbatim:
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“We refer to your email regarding the alleged incident with Jannie Nieuwenhuys. We would like to take this opportunity to tell you a little about the homeless within the Edenvale CBD.
ECID has spent the best part of 3 years trying to get an unfortunately non-functional social services department to assist.
From an initial approximate 20-30 homeless in the ECID footprint we now estimate that there are around 165 living in the area.
The influx is due in part through the economy, feeding schemes and availability of sheltered sleeping areas that property owners are not willing to enclose. Sadly the aforementioned do not offer ablution facilities, job opportunity or health care. We sit month after month in meetings, where we are told that social services are aware of the problems and are ‘looking at options’ but no solutions are immediately forthcoming. We do not get discouraged.
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The homeless, who are faceless and nameless to many living in the area, are for the most part known to us. The tireless efforts of all involved to assist and understand each individual and their circumstances continues daily. We usually know at least some of the following about each person: their name; where they are in the day and where the sleep at night; If they are addicted to alcohol or drugs or both; where they came from and if they have health issues. We notice when they are no longer there and are aware of when someone new arrives as well as those who pass away. So far we have managed to re-unite 5 local homeless people with their families via the scooter guards.
We assist when called by a desperate resident because one of the guys are running naked down the street, masturbating in public. We calmed and covered him and called the relevant authorities. SAPS arrested him and placed in a home however he is now out again and continuing as before, no further help will come as there are no social services.
We run to protect the lady who is stabbed through her open window by an agitated homeless person. This is possibly the most heart wrenching and difficult part of what we deal with at ECID, the forgotten who we as a team remember to check on.
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In order to protect their identity and human rights we will not give names but use the phonetic alphabet. But I would like to share a couple of stories;
Alpha had his corner, he didn’t bother anyone and from what we understand was protected by the other homeless living in the area. The scooter guards found Alpha, lying outside a busy corner shop. We thought he was dead. We had consistently placed numerous calls asking for him to be assisted. Our scooter guards came to help and we established that he was still breathing. Knowing he was sensitive and probably had low blood sugar we got him his favourite coloured fizzy drink and woke him.
One day Alpha was gone, we looked for him and enquired if he may have returned to Eastleigh where he at one time used to live, we heard he had passed away, we have not been able to confirm this.
A lot of the homeless know that help is available in some form or another from the ECID office. Bravo had legal matters regarding his family estate. Although not in our mandate, his frustration and sadness compelled us to as far as possible assist in helping him establish the procedure and save the torn and damaged document that his entire future could depend on.
Charlie is one of our favourites and we hope his story has had the happy ending we think he did. Charlie is a self-professed drug addict who left home at around 14 yrs old and had been living on the streets for over 10 years. Charlie decided he wanted to stop the drugs. Yes we had heard the story before from others and have tried to help, sadly to no avail, but we would not turn him away. Charlie stuck to his word. The office staff out of our personal pockets assisted with food and soap powder and airtime (he got a phone from his brother) and we managed to secure him a little part time work. Charlie applied for a job as a manager on a construction site, he told us he got the job and we haven’t seen him since.
Delta got new clothes. His peers took the items for themselves and poured petrol over his genitals and set him alight. We found him screaming behind the reservoir. We called an ambulance and after he had been discharged from hospital, asked a local medic to assist in changing his dressings at no charge so as to avoid infection and any further complications to him. On Friday afternoon last week the ECID Scooter Guards came into the office desperately worried. They had found Echo who was very old. He was sitting on the side of the road, covered in his own urine and unable to move (how many people had just walked past?). The Scooter Guards begged him to allow them to call an ambulance but he refused though he did not look well at all. An ambulance was called and they traced his son to a local garage in a neighbouring area.
In the ECID what we do is all in a days work and we are happy to do it. We go the extra mile and when we come across the smell urine where the homeless sleeps, we don’t scrunch our noses and ignore it, we take buckets of water and disinfectant and douse the area ourselves so it is hygienic again for passers-by.
Some shop owners have to do this every single morning before they can open their shops. There are so many more stories both happy and sad.
The ECID crew remove a skip of rubbish daily from the ECID area alone, this is over and above what the council does. Can you imagine in just 1 week those five skips scattered across the footprint, we shudder to think what Edenvale would look like after a month. Our team found a huge pile of rubbish on 8th Ave behind McDonalds and proceeded to remove it. Jannie started shouting at the guys and picking up the rubbish throwing it at them. Feeling intimidated they called the scooter guards to assist.
He was not harmed in any way and only the pile of rubbish that filled an entire trailer was removed. Jannie has been busy and has re-established his pile on the same corner and is again sleeping under a pile of rubbish.
I would like to plead that since you seem to have established a personal rapport with him – could you perhaps , in your personal or public capacity try and assist him to find a proper home. Could you as a journalist contact social services and enquire as whether they are really doing anything and what. With your close working relationship with various political parties can you see what they are physically doing to uplift the homeless. Your assistance in helping the destitute in the Edenvale are would truly be most appreciated.”
