Isn't there something obscene about fining homeless people for sleeping on the streets?
By the time they are fined they've been offered alternatives, they've been warned many times and no other solution remains.
How many fines have you issued?
We're talking 199 fines in six months .
How many have been paid?
I doubt almost any of them will be paid. But you need to decide what do you do with a person who is committing a bylaw offence habitually .
What's the point of bylaws that are unenforceable?
They're not, we enforce them all the time.
But you've still got people sleeping on the streets?
Absolutely. That's an international phenomenon and you're not going to change that easily. But it's about how you manage the impact it has on communities.
Are you doing that?
We're trying to take a different route because the route we've used over the last three years is failing us badly. That route was not to do enforcement but to focus on social development.
But now you're fining them?
We're rolling out safe spaces, expanding bed spaces .
Are there enough shelters and beds for all the homeless?
Yes.
How accessible are they?
Yesterday I was standing at the Haven night shelter and two people walked in and were accommodated. Neither had to pay. There's no payment for the first 30 days, and thereafter if you can't pay the R15 daily fee you have to put in one hour of sweat equity to assist with food preparation etcetera.
So why are they sleeping on the streets?
I asked one gentleman that yesterday. He said he wants to drink, and they can't drink in the shelter. That's why when we created the safe space we provided for more lenient rules.
But they still prefer the streets?
In the CBD that's a shrinking number. The safe space is now full and from there we're able to move people on to more long-term options and jobs and reintegration with family.
So why are so many still sleeping on the streets?
Two dynamics have added to this significantly: people being released from prison in large numbers, and large numbers of foreign nationals because of the lack of a refugee reception centre. Over the last three years the situation has got progressively worse.
What happens to those who don't pay the fines?
They appear before the court. What we're looking for is for them to be referred to support programmes, rehab programmes .
They don't go to jail?
No, there's no vague prospect of that.
So why fine them?
If you don't balance social development and enforcement the situation on the streets will grow worse until every public space is occupied by structures. We can't just admit defeat. You have to draw a line about what is feasible in the open public spaces of a city.
