we bitched about 2 Struben street and got this reply...
The Office of the Executive Mayor regrets that the letter has been sent and has ordered the Health and Social Development Department to withdraw it.
No one will be evicted. We see the letter by the department as a grave mistake by the department.
Member of the Mayoral Committee for Health and Social Development will visit the shelter today to discuss the matter
Below is our extensive response
The phenomenon of homelessness is a concern in various metropolitan areas including the City of Tshwane. It is reported that there are over 5000 homeless people in the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality. With an increase in migration and the growth of the infrastructure development projects, the number of homeless people is likely to have increased.
The issue of homelessness is mainly concentrated in the inner city and other areas of Tshwane. City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality has one shelter which can accommodate homeless people of different age group. The capacity of the shelter called number 2 Struben street shelter has triple from 250 tenants to 620 people. The place now has become security and health hazard. It has been almost a year since MAYCO has approved the Homelessness policy. Health and Social Development department as the custodian of the said policy has since made great strides towards the implementation of the homelessness programme as per the Homelessness policy.
Number 2 Struben Shelter
The number 2 Struben Shelter is the only shelter which is fully owned by the City of Tshwane administered with the Department of Health and Social Development to address issues of homelessness in the city as per the MAYCO resolution of the 19 June 2013. The capacity of the shelter is 250. The capacity of the place has since been exceeded by over 200 percent. As such, the facility poses a security and health hazards to the tenants, officials and the surrounding community members. Due to overcrowding, it is a challenge to conduct sustainable maintenance of the facility. In an effort to overturn the situation on Number 2 Struben shelter, the following has been conducted:
Revamp of the Number 2 Struben shelter
R2 million has been set aside towards the revamping and maintenance of the Number 2 Struben shelter during the adjustment budget. Multidisciplinary team (e.g. engineers, city planning, social workers, housing) meeting and site visits were conducted at the facility..
4.1.2 Assessment of the tenants in Number 2 Struben shelter
In preparation for the revamp of Number 2 Struben shelter, an assessment and verification of the tenants who are staying in the facility were conducted. The purpose of the assessment was to profile the tenants and identify their needs for the purpose of relocation. Below is the outcome:
· 620 people are recorded as staying in Number 2 Struben Shelter.
· Only 289 tenants were interviewed and assessed.
· 56 are Female
· 231 are Male
· 15 people are foreign national
· 77 are employed
· 203 are unemployed.
· 83 are youth
· 160 are adults
· 61 are elderly people
· 59 have Grade 12
· 226 have grade 11 downwards.
· 31 Chronic conditions
· 5 people with disabilities
· 102 indicated that they needed assistance in linking with their families.
The inspections carried out revealed the following findings which needs urgent and immediate attention:
Structural Status
· The ceiling boards were missing from both the male and the female sleeping halls.
· The paint was found to be peeling off on most of the walls in the rooms.
· Insufficient artificial lighting due to lights poor maintenance thus most lights being out of order.
· Open and illegal electrical connections were also observed in some rooms making it a potential fire hazard and a safety risk.
· Some floor tiles were missing in the female toilets and female hall.
Water and Sanitation.
· There was stagnant waste water due to leaking water taps and blocked drains which poses a health nuisance to children living in the shelter.
· Both male and female ground floor toilets were found to be in a very dirty condition, the human waste stains, and floors were full of water and the hand washing basin were dirty, broken and leaking.
· Two outside water taps were leaking on the time of inspection.
· Bad smells and odours were experienced from the room, waste water and stagnant sewage
· Both male and female showers were not functioning properly and are poorly maintained.
· Heavy presence of cockroaches and lice were observed during the time of inspection.
· Heavy infestation of doves was observed and Signs of rodent infestation were also observed during the inspections.
· Hygiene Practices and Cleaning Programme
· Poor personal hygiene was observed from most of the residents. Visible dust particles were observed on the wall of Men’s kitchen
The number 2 Struben Shelter is the only shelter which is fully owned by the City of Tshwane administered with the Department of Health and Social Development to address issues of homelessness in the city as per the MAYCO resolution of the 19 June 2013. The capacity of the shelter is 250. The capacity of the place has since been exceeded by over 200 percent.
As such, the facility poses a security and health hazards to the tenants, officials and the surrounding community members. Due to overcrowding, it is a challenge to conduct sustainable maintenance of the facility.
R2 million has been set aside towards the revamping and maintenance of the Number 2 Struben shelter during the adjustment budget. Multidisciplinary team (e.g. engineers, city planning, social workers, housing) meeting and site visits were conducted at the facility..
The MMC for Health and Social development will host an open meeting with the occupants of the building t to address the concerns and outline the temporary measures for persons in the Shelter during the renovations process.
The will be no evictions until such time that the project manager has arranged a phased in renovations of the facility to ensure that there is minimum temporary relocation during such refurbishments and repairs
Blessing Manale
Executive Head : Public Affairs, Media Relations and Spokesperson
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Office of the Executive Mayor| Centurion | Cnr Rabie & Basden Streets |PO Box 3242 Pretoria | 0001 |Tel: 012 358 4320 |Cell: 083 677 1630
www.tshwane.gov.za | Email:
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