Fuming residents in Melkbosstrand, West Beach and Summer Greens have taken their concerns on the homeless to social media after their complaints have fallen on deaf ears.
In one of the latest incidents, surfers’ and kite surfers’ equipment were stolen, along with their clothes on Bloubergstrand and Milnerton Beach.
They claim that their belongings start going missing as soon as vagrants settled in at public toilets on the beachfront.
“We weren’t even long in the water and most of our stuff was stolen,” says surfer Kian Fernandez.
Other residents in surrounding areas say they have to keep a close eye on their property while others continue to blame the ‘kindhearted’ for showering the homeless with gifts and food.
However, no official reports were made to the police.
According to ward 107 councillor Nicky Rheeder, she has received an enormous amount of complaints again about the homeless on the streets and the structures they build.
She says the City of Cape Town is prevented by a court judgement from removing the structures. The City may not force anyone off the street.
“The only way to move anyone off your property is by applying for an eviction order. Only the property owner can do this. The City is therefore working on over 500 cases at this stage. This however also means that we have to have alternative accommodation ready to present to the court for each case, without which no order will be granted,” Rheeder says.
She says they clean litter around homeless camps as often as they can.
“We also ask them what we can throw away and are often given cupboards, beds, couches and anything else you could think of. We then dispose of it responsibly. The homeless get these items somewhere.
Besides the clean-up operations we have weekly, we have field workers from social development who work in the area daily offering the homeless shelter space, family reintegration, rehabilitation . . . the number of people who accept help is far and few between.
The streets are no place to be and we really do offer alternatives to the homeless over and over again,” Rheeder explains.
They also regularly share on social media the message of giving responsibly, of disposing of unwanted goods responsibly, of not giving hand-outs but rather giving to organisations that exist to help the homeless find their way off the street.
“Help us by spreading the word of giving responsibly so that we can help people who live on the streets to get off the streets sustainably. Help us by disposing of all your unwanted goods responsibly. Help us by speaking to your neighbours if you see them disposing of valuable goods on the pavement or in their bins. Help us by joining the clean-up operations (see Community Clean-Up which is a community organisation that works hand in hand with us),” she says.
