Housing activist organization Ndifuna Ukwazi (NU) has condemned the City of Cape Town (CoCT) for attempting to compile complaints from the public against people experiencing homeless.
CoCT shared a template complaint form on social media urging residents and businesses in various wards to share their complaints about the impact of street people and their structures on themselves or their business.
The Strandfontein Homeless Action Committee (SHAC), a Cape Town group that advocates for the rights of homeless people, have created a counter submission.
SHAC’s document is available in Afrikaans and isiXhosa and it asks street-based Capetonians to document their experiences with City officials.
“I / my neighbour was displaced by Law Enforcement Officers, CID employees, Private Security and my / their personal belongings (money, ID, medication, personal belongings, tent / dwelling material) were seized”.
SHAC has requested that people submit these accounts to the City, and to copy the SHAC, at homelessactioncommitteecpt@gmail.com.
Carlos Mesquita, a founder of SHAC, told GroundUp that the SHAC was shocked by this attempt by the City of Cape Town to criminalise poor people.