Tshwane shelters call for help as winter approaches

Tshwane shelters are calling for help as winter moves in on the highveld as the hundreds of people they house need blankets and clothing.

“The residential facilities we have are usually old and get severely cold in winter. We need hot water bottles, warm pyjamas, socks, beanies, slippers and gowns,” said Wilna de Beer, chief executive officer
of Tshwane Leadership Foundation.

The foundation is one of 27 organisations which runs shelters funded by the Gauteng department of social development in Tshwane.

According to the department, the number of registered homeless people in the shelters in the province was 2,314 in March.

City of Tshwane Mayoral Committee member on social development Peggy de Bruin acknowledged there was no official figure of homeless people in the city. But on every corner in the city centre there are homeless people.

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The foundation has seven residential care facilities in total. Gauteng department of social development spokesperson Feziwe Ndwayana said that some of the shelters it finances have worn-out beds and blankets and others do not have beds at all.

The department budgeted R87.5 million to deal with homelessness in 2022/2023 compared to about R84 million in 2021/22.

– GroundUp

Kekana is an Open Society Foundation Fellow at Wits University