District Six residents oppose homeless shelter on historic site

Members of several District Six Associations marched to the Western Cape provincial government offices on Friday to protest against plans to use the site of a former crèche for a homeless shelter. Photo: Matthew Hirsch

• Members of District Six associations marched on Friday to object to a proposed homeless shelter on the site of a former crèche.
• They want the Tafelberg crèche site to be used for a community centre instead.
• One of the associations protesting was the Silvertree Rugby Football Club, which lost its lease on the site during apartheid and would like to return.

District Six residents opposed to the creation of a shelter for homeless people on the site of a former crèche gathered outside the Western Cape Provincial offices on Friday, 14 July. They want the Tafelberg crèche site to be converted into a community centre instead.

The Silvertree Rugby Football Club, District Civic Association, Upper District Six Neighbourhood Watch, and District Six Advocacy Committee were all signatories to a memorandum delivered to the provincial government offices in Wale Street.

The provincial government said in March that the Robbie Nurock Day Hospital, which had been earmarked for a homeless shelter, was found to be unsuitable due to asbestos. A new site had been identified at the old Tafelberg crèche in Constitution Street, Zonnebloem, and R18-million had been set aside for the project.

Rashied Combrink, President of the Silvertree Rugby Football Club, said the club, established in 1954, had lost its lease on the site during the Group Areas Act and wanted to return. “We’re still running and field three teams every week. We are not against homeless shelters, but we want to come back.”

He said the Anglican Church had started the Silvertree Boys Club which later became the Silvertree Rugby Football Club. “It was run as a community centre, not just for rugby. That is where the children were kept busy.”

Shahnaz Arnold, a member of the District Six Civic Association, also told GroundUp that they were not against homeless shelters, but that there was a great need for recreational spaces in the historic suburb. “There are no facilities for the children to play. They are growing up and standing on corners where they don’t know what to do with themselves,” said Arnold.

Tania Kleinhans, of the District Six Advocacy Committee, said government had lost the political will to address homelessness. She said homeless people should be placed back with their families. Shelters were temporary and did not address the causes of the issues involved in homelessness, she said.

“We all come from legacies of systematic trauma, but I think this is a band-aid situation,” she said.

She supported the proposal to have the old Tafelberg crèche turned into a community centre instead.

Ronald Bantom, a former headmaster from Bellville who attended the picket, said, “People are not against homeless people. Build shelters for homeless people, but there are many other pieces of vacant land that you can use. Why this particular land, where we know that people have been removed from that land?”

Ward 77 Councillor Francine Higham (DA) said she was asking the provincial government to facilitate a public participation process on the matter.

Monique Mortlock-Malgas, spokesperson for social development MEC Sharna Fernandez, said the public had been invited to comment in June and the process had ended on 14 July. All inputs will be taken into consideration before a final decision is made on the site, she said.

She said the former Tafelberg crèche had been identified as an appropriate site due to the high number of people living on the street in the vicinity.

“This site proved to be most suitable in providing sufficient internal and external space in a more suitable arrangement to remodel as a shelter, all within close proximity to Cape Town city centre and existing shelter services,” said Mortlock-Malgas.

Earlier this year, Fernandez said R31-million had been transferred to 37 shelters for homeless adults in the current financial year. The number of funded bed spaces has increased from 1,500 in 2020 to nearly 2,400 this year.

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