THE DENIS Hurley Centre has raised concerns about the dispersion of the homeless people who were raided in the Durban CBD on Monday, October 13, during the KZN government’s operation, Khuculula. Serving disadvantaged people in central Durban, particularly homeless people, drug users, the urban unemployed and refugees, the centre said though a problem was solved, others were created.
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During the operation, over 200 homeless people were removed from the streets of Albert Park and surrounding areas. According to the KZN government, the operation is focused on dismantling illegal drug activities and apprehending undocumented foreign nationals involved in unlawful operations. The operation also resulted in the arrest of 15 undocumented foreign nationals along with a drug dealer.
Responding to the operation, Denis Hurley Centre director Dr Raymond Perrier said the centre recognised that recent police efforts against the homeless have the praiseworthy intention of identifying and addressing criminal elements within the homeless community.
“But, in trying to address one problem, the local government has simply created other ones. When people see homeless people sleeping rough or openly trading drugs or stealing in order to feed their addictions, there is a cry of ‘something must be done’. But the danger is that simply doing something without a thought for the consequences does not actually improve the situation for anyone,” he said.
Dr Perrier said that though Monday’s intervention resulted in apprehending 15 undocumented foreign nationals and 100 homeless people being taken in for processing, “we have not heard how many of those have been charged or detained.
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“But several hundred others have been affected by the raid on Monday and previous raids. The actions of the police mean that these groups are scattered – they do not disappear; they just move to another place. So when the police intervened with the group by the railway tracks, some scattered to Glenwood and others moved to the Esplanade traffic island. Those on the traffic island have now been dispersed, and many are in Albert Park, whereas, others are now in the CBD. In time, the police will, no doubt, act on Albert Park, and that group will go somewhere else. If this sounds familiar, almost the same sequence was followed by the police about three years ago.
“These strategies do work: providing well-run safe sleeping spaces; giving access to managed medical substitutes for drugs; tackling the drug dealers and not just the buyers – but these take time and patience, a vision and a well-coordinated strategy. They also require engaging with homeless people as people and not treating them as litter to be cleared off the streets. eThekwini demonstrated its willingness to do this during Covid, but it has now returned to quick, expensive and ineffective interventions that grab headlines but achieve limited lasting results,” he said.
Ntuli said the local government is open to working with whoever has a particular view.
“We are a government that listens to people. Anyone who would like to engage with us in our operations – we are open. Our agenda to fight crime in the province of KwaZulu-Natal carries on,” he said.
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Further to this, the KwaZulu-Natal local government spokesperson, Bongani Gina, said the operations are executed in a way where relevant stakeholders, such as the Department of Community Safety; the SAPS; the Immigration Unit of Home Affairs, Health and Social Development; and Durban Metro Police, are involved.
“The police are there to scan fingerprints of the homeless, and those are taken in with the police; others are sent to camps where we have no control over them and their operations there,” he said.
@caxtonlocalmedia The Denis Hurley Centre was among those who raised concerns about the dispersal of vagrants at Albert Park by KZN local government earlier this week. Read the full story in our website. Link to story in bio #kzn #operationkhuculula #Albertpark ♬ original sound – caxtonlocalmedia
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