THE Denis Hurley Centre’s (DHC) has launched a new campaign on its social media platforms under the banner #AllLivesMatter. This is in response to continuous violations against homeless people, says Raymond Perrier of the DHC. “We have shared on many occasions the shocking stories of how homeless people’s rights are abused by Metro Police, SAPS and private security firms in Durban, and every week we hear accounts of violence, verbal abuse, abductions, destruction and stealing of property,” he said.
“We have raised awareness of this in the media and repeatedly brought it to the attention of the outgoing eThekwini executive, but the abuses have continued. Inspired by successful legal actions taken in other cities, we are now collecting data in a more methodical manner so that we can bring the perpetrators to account,” he said.
Perrier said DHC has been helped in this by law students from UKZN who are part of the Street Law project led by Professors David McQuoid-Mason and Janine Hicks. Once they have built trust with homeless people who come for meals to the DHC, the students can take witness statements and also advise on how to improve the quality of statements.
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“Simply being able to share their story with a legal person who is sympathetic is already helpful. And then they know that we will shine a light on these incidents,” said Perrier.
He said the campaign #AllLivesMatter has been launched on Facebook and Instagram, and added that they were also identifying a number of possible interventions with the assistance of high-level human rights lawyers.
“This project was given a great boost recently as a focus of UKZN’s new Navi Pillay Research Group. The woman who once led the UN’s human rights commission has come home to Durban. She was keen to hear at first-hand what violations are happening here on our streets. We are hopeful that the new Municipal Exco will work with us and our lawyers to make the streets safer for everyone,” said Perrier.
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