Melrose Street displaced people reportedly increase in numbers
Laundry and other domestic activities have been witnessed by residents driving past a spot on Melrose Street where displaced people live.
People illegally occupying an area of land on Melrose Street, in Melrose, have caught the attention of residents and become a concern. One Birdhaven resident Elaine Brown* said the displaced people who are growing in numbers were visible when the grass is cut and, ‘over the weekends there is always smoke, and their laundry is laid out on the grass. It is not the first time we have brought it to the attention of the councillor but nothing gets done. It is so dark there when there is load-shedding, quite scary and eerie.”
The Melrose Ratepayers Association (MRA) chairman Peter Buirski said the MRA has not received complaints regarding the displaced people on Melrose Street.
He said, however, the community has generally been aware of the displaced persons’ issue for a long time. Burski believes homelessness is a social problem which arises from broad societal factors: including our low-growth, non-investor-friendly economy. In the short-term, he suggests it needs to be sensitively dealt with by the government which should create more welfare centres and soup kitchens to feed and look after these ‘unfortunate’ people. Buirski said, “When communities, including our own, get involved, it should never be on the basis of simply pushing these people out of the area. To the contrary, we need to recognise that any act of simply pushing [displaced people] out of our area does not, and will never, solve the problem – it simply creates a situation of out-of-sight, out-of-mind, which is hardly constructive.”
Ward 74 councillor Belinda Echeozonjoku said she has reported the issue to social workers and the JMPD but has had no response. The councillor added that she asked the urban inspector to request that they do an integrated clean-up, especially on Melrose Street and other problematic streets. According to Echeozonjoku, the lack of by-law enforcement is the biggest problem not only in her ward but across the city. “We seem to get very slow responses from JMPD and by the time they do respond people would already have set up structures which make things difficult. Another issue is that most of the displaced people are not South African and most of the city’s services are geared towards South Africans- to assist them first.”
The JMPD was also contacted on June 20 and spokesperson Officer Xolani Fihla said he would check and get back to us, but a follow-up WhatsApp on June 22 was read but not responded to.
*Not resident’s real surname. The surname changed following a request by the resident.
Filler: Share your suggestions for solutions for displaced people on Facebook at Rosebank Killarney Gazette.
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