DURBANVILLE
Woensdag, 1 Julie 2020 | Tel: 021 910 6500 | e-pos: nuus@tygerburger.co.za
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Vagrants have erected tents, donated by residents, all over Durbanville. Here they are in the public open space beween Durbanville Avenue and the All Saints Anglican Church in Baxter Avenue, Durbanville.
DURBANVILLE: ‘CAMPGROUNDS’ POPPING UP ALL OVER TOWN
‘Fed up with vagrants’ ESMÉ ERASMUS @erasmusesme
W
hile the number of street people in Durbanville has more than tripled since lockdown, residents, among whom business people, are fed up with the problem of their anti-social behaviour. TygerBurger reported on vandalism by vagrants at the Durbanville cemetery (“Vagrants take over cemetery”, 17/06) and a large tree in Church Street was destroyed last week. It caught fire when vagrants were making a fire under it. Durbanville now also boasts it very own “campground” with about nine tents of street people popping up on public open spaces all over town – among others at the Telkom building adjacent to the police station, in the public open space opposite Durbanville Primary School and on the pavement next to the fence around the church grounds in Church Street. This act of goodwill of residents handing
out tents to street people infuriates other residents as it encourages even more street people to camp out all over town, they say. Durbanville Business complained to the executive mayor of the City of Cape Town, Dan Plato, about the “considerable increase in activities of vagrants negatively impacting both the residential and business landscapes in Durbanville”. The principal of Durbanville Primary School, Pierre du Toit, also wrote a letter to ward councillor Theresa Uys to complain about the street people staying next to the school’s fence. “We work with children and cannot allow these people to use indecent language around our children,” he said to TygerBurger. Du Toit said he saw residents handing out tents and a person in a Land Rover handing out pillows and duvets, “making it easy for them to stay”. Further adding oil to their fire is the fact that the hands of the City of Cape Town’s law
enforcement department are currently tied. According to Covid-19 sub-regulations, a person may not be evicted from his or her land or home during level 3 restrictions; or evicted from land they occupy unlawfully. The street people problem is not new in Durbanville – the core of the problem is local philanthropists who do not adhere to requests to not give handouts. People are encouraged to rather donate to organisations such as Mould Empower Serve (MES), which holistically addresses the problem. MES will be getting a leg up soon in Durbanville if all goes according to plan and they can secure the lease agreement for the building in Queen Street. It will be used as a centre for street people. The building was leased by the Durbanville Lions club for the past 35 years and also used by several other community organisations. Subcouncil 7 recommended the approval of the lease agreement at its monthly meeting on 15 June for a period of ten years. The
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tariff rental is R920 per annum (VAT excluded). The final approval must still be granted at a full council meeting. In their letter to executive mayor Plato, Andries Venter, chair of Durbanville Business, pleaded for his intervention to address their concerns. “It is a major concern to all business owners who have experienced the increase in vagrants occupying our streets and public areas – resulting in hot spots for crime and causing possible health hazards, especially in the light of the Covid-19 pandemic. “Since the start of lockdown, there has been a substantial increase in the erection of tents and other makeshift shelters in Durbanville. The occupiers of these facilities have no or little access to ablution facilities, and these affected areas will most probably lead to major hygiene concerns. “Until date, no action whatsoever has been taken by the City to address the deteriorating situation,” Venter said in his letter.. V To page 4.
Ervaar lewenskwaliteit met die nuutste herlaaibare gehoorapparaattegnologie
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