GEORGE NEWS - George Municipality has appealed to Georgians to become a part of a solution for people living on the streets by giving donations to organisations such as the George Night Shelter or Kidstop, rather than giving money or handouts to adults or children begging at street intersections, as this has become an increasing concern.
According to Estelle Fredericks of the municipality's social development department, there has been an increase in new arrivals of people living on the streets after the Covid lockdown period and the situation is exacerbated by the current economic situation.
She said that giving such people money or handouts on the streets only encourages them to keep living on the streets - with negative long-term effects.
The municipality established the Plots (People Living on The Streets) Forum in 2018 to holistically address the many factors associated with homeless people.
The forum includes representatives from municipal social development services, the police, Kidstop (focuses on children living on the streets), People Against Substance Abuse (Pasa), Smoking and Alcohol Harms Alleviation and Rehabilitation Association (Sahara), Christian Rehabilitation Ministries to the Homeless of George (Cremhog) and the national departments of social development and health.
Night outreaches, clothing bank
"The Plots Forum aims to eradicate the issue of homelessness. Night outreaches take place to quantify the number of persons currently living on the streets and these surveys also serve as a tool to identify the needs of the individuals, and to assess how they can be assisted going forward," said Fredericks.
The municipality also continues to provide clothing and toiletries to persons living on the street. It maintains a clothing bank where residents of George can donate clothing.
"Many of the homeless ask for clothing or toiletries to be presentable and a register is kept for this purpose. It would really assist the municipality if more residents could donate clothing and toiletries for this purpose as no funding is available for this."
Job-seekers programme
The municipal social development division also runs a job-seekers programme where they motivate the homeless to seek jobs, even if it is in the informal market. The department assists with the drawing up of CVs and registering of the homeless on the EPWP database for job opportunities.
Through other stakeholders, reunification services are also planned for those individuals who indicate that they want to reunite with their families.
'Vast challenge'
"The issue of homelessness is a vast challenge and assistance from all spheres is needed to address the issue properly. Living on the streets is not a crime and therefore these people cannot be arrested or moved without their consent. Our social development and law enforcement departments' mandate is limited as the bulk of the functions to assist people living on the streets falls under Saps and the National Department of Social Development," said Fredericks.
A photo taken by a resident of Morris Lane shows the mess that homeless people left on the sidewalk against the George police station a week or two ago. The municipality is appealing to Georgians to co-operate with them in their efforts to meaningfully address the varied aspects of the issue of people sleeping on the street.
Who will help?
George residents, business owners and organisations who want to help the homeless and/or submit innovative ideas on how to help the homeless are invited to join the Plots monthly meeting.
You can contact Estelle Fredericks on 044 802 2000, ext 2015, during office hours for more information.
The public may also contact these organisations: Freddy Trout (Pasa) on 068 487 4848, Jonathan Gelderbloem (YFC Kidstop) on 044 874 2624/044 875 1794, Department of Social Services on 044 814 1920 or André Olivier of Cremhog at andre.olivier1962@gmail.com
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