The Muizenberg community centre has been vacant for over a year now. To what purpose? The roof has been replaced. That's it.
We as the previous tenants have been thrown out and lost our businesses. The traffic department that supposedly had an urgent agenda to move in have not done so.
There has been security there for over a year for the sole purpose of preventing the homeless, who were previously housed there, not to move back in.
That is a year that we have not earned revenue from the small businesses we had there, which helped and supported the homeless. A year that the homeless have been back on the streets. Sleeping in the cold wind and rain.
One of them had told me that they have had to join a gang in Muizenberg to survive.
In Muizenberg? To survive on the street you have to join a gang. This is the result of kicking the homeless into the street.
One year and if this is what is happening on our streets shouldn't we rather provide them with the accommodation they deserve. The homeless are our eyes and ears in our town. They have to know what is gong on to be able to survive. Look after then and they will look after you. It's almost like paying protection.
