In response to the recent reporting on displaced persons in George Lea Park in the Sandton Chronicle, Ward 90 councillor, Martin Williams, decided to share his views on the matter.
In response to the terminology that has been used to describe the displaced persons, he said, “The word ‘vagrants’ is pejorative, inaccurate and politically unsound. Nor are any of the people [living in George Lea Park] really ‘homeless’. They are, above all, human beings with needs and feelings just like the rest of us.”
He stressed that the correct term for these individuals is ‘displaced’.
According to Williams, the City of Johannesburg’s Displaced People’s Unit is ineffectual, underfunded and ‘hopeless’. “We urgently need a comprehensive policy. That policy must be visionary, and not restricted to tough bylaw enforcement,” he said.
“Burning the possessions of poor people and driving them from one spot merely encourages them to move along to the next spot, in all likelihood to return when the heat is off.”
Williams explained that, under Herman Mashaba’s leadership, job creation and investment will improve. “That will help many poor people but it won’t stop many more [from] being attracted to this great city.”
He believes that the policies in place should take the above into account and said that there is a desperate need for more shelters that should be strategically placed and better managed ‘in terms of population turnover’.
“Under proper, humane but firm management, the parks, riverbeds and other open spaces, which add to the city’s livability, need not pose all the hazards feared by many of the more well-off.”
He stressed that poverty and population influx affect most great cities and concluded, “We can set a fine example. We must exemplify social justice in this and all our actions.”
