Cape Town friends, and further afield [cos this is a time for us to stand together in solidarity]
If you are reading this post, you likely started out by reading this one and if not maybe give it a quick look. Let me add right now that there are some conflicting reports going around and a very good friend of mine went in to visit with a delegation and produced a Live video afterwards saying it isn’t as bad as some people have heard. i 100% believe that Ashley was telling the truth in that video in terms of what he saw when he was there. But i still question whether what he was shown is legitimately what is going on there or whether it was a PR exercise from those in power. We have heard conflicting stories from people who are staying in the camp via church friends who work alongside them. i also just chatted to another friend who was there last night in the capacity of worship team member and got to walk inside one of the tents and speak with some of the people. He was able to confirm some things we have heard [no or few mattresses] and contradict some other things [he saw a whole lot of toilet paper] and again he is someone i fully trust and so believe that what he told me was what he saw.
We will continue to dig deeper and try to get more closely to the truth of what is going on in Strandfontein. In the meantime we saw the beautiful picture of close to 6000 people from Germany being cared for and well-treated at the Stadium on their way home – a starkly different story from what is going on in Strandfontein – no fences, no rubber bullets, decent food…
So the call to treat these men and women with dignity and do what is best for them and not just a fail safe for the city remains and good friends of mine and others have come together to compose this letter which we invite you to send:
In response to the deeply disturbing camp at Strandfontein which homeless members of our communities and city have been removed to and imprisoned in by the City of Cape Town in response to the National COVID19 Regulations and Lock-down, church leaders from the Western Cape Ecumenical Network have written a letter which is open source for churches and communities to edit as preferred and send immediately to the people mentioned:
We need your help to convince the City of Cape Town that there are far more humane ways for us to care for our family who live outside around Cape Town. Please can I ask that you consider doing the following:
1. Cut and paste the following message into a new email
2. Address this email to Zahid Badroodien <Zahid.Badroodien@capetown.gov.za> the Mayco member responsible for the site ,and the Mayor Dan Plato <dan.plato@capetown.gov.za> as well as your ward councillor (see bottom of this message for directions to find their email address).
3. Sign the message with your name, including your faith community name if you are part of one
Dear Councillor Badroodien, Mayor Plato and
Since the COVID-19 lockdown was announced NGOs, churches and other civil society coalitions have raised deep concerns about the care for our homeless neighbours. I and many of my church members have worked amongst the homeless of Cape Town and have personal relationships with many of those affected by COVID-19 in general and the City of Cape Town’s decisions in particular.
I write to you to express my opposition, as a Church leader, to the City’s policy of removing people to mass sites like the one at Strandfontein. Mass sites are a security response rather than a caring, health response in the midst of a healthcare crisis. Having implemented this policy over the past week it seems clear that the key health (medical, physical, psycho-social, spiritual) and humanitarian (food, shelter, water) provisions are not yet in place or have failed to be considered.
In the spirit of the COVID-19 regulations and the care of the most vulnerable amongst us, I believe that smaller, well-planned and well-managed sites are both critical and possible. Across the City, there are communities where buildings, including Civic centres, stand empty with experienced and skilled NGOs, professionals and volunteers who are willing to assist in partnership with respective government departments. I would urge you to recognise these social, human and infrastructural resources which are being offered.
I call on you to engage these stakeholders, to identify alternatives to mass sites and to move those who are currently being held at the Strandfontein site into these alternatives. As a matter of urgency, I add my voice to the call for
– an immediate reduction of the numbers that are currently being sheltered at the Str andfontein site and other mega-sites in the city
– an immediate cessation of force within these sites
– immediate provision of appropriate key health and humanitarian services, including the opening of Public Bathrooms and taps to allow for access to runing water.
The City, NGOs and church bodies can and should talk together about the best possible way to resolve this matter so that all human beings are given the dignity they deserve. We remember with hope the partnerships that were forged in 2008 when thousands of people were housed in church buildings around the city and then reintegrated into society afterwards. I believe that this can happen again. I join in asking for partnerships to be forged between churches and the CoCT in order for us to be able to use our sites to house between 10-20 people each.
Many churches are already involved in local partnerships in their neighborhoods to care for the vulnerable and disenfranchised and can use those relationships to support the most vulnerable, including the elderly, those with existing physical or mental conditions and those needing careful medical attention for substance withdrawal management.
On this Easter weekend, one of the holiest times in the Christian calendar, we are reminded of the sacrifice of Christ – a sacrifice made for all who are created in the image of God, including each of our brothers and sisters who call different parts of the City home. I call on the City of Cape Town to move towards a solution that reflects the sacredness of each member of our society.
Signed,
To find out who your Ward Councillor is, go to the site below, type your suburb into the search box, press search, scroll down and click on the name of your Councillor. This link should take you to a page with their email address on it. Please copy and paste that into your message to Zahid Badroodien <Zahid.Badroodien@capetown.gov.za> the Mayco member responsible for the site and the Mayor Dan Plato <dan.plato@capetown.gov.za>
There are people who are taking this thing very seriously and a lot of really incredible people are seeking to pursue truth in this matter so we can have hope in that, but we cannot be distracted from what we have seen done in the past [during the Soccer World Cup for example] when homeless people have been treated as less than human. They are among the most vulnerable among us and we have to seek our humanity by appealing on behalf of theirs.
Thank you for taking the time to do this and please share it with your friends…
Hello Brett
I see the governmnet say they will give small businesses money. So they will thej pay salaries etc. But the execs will still then get their fat salary and the workers their small salaries.
But we all need to eat.
So why not give everyone in SA say R1000 a month instead of a few select businesses like tourism for example (they getting). That would go a long way to help of we all got R1000 say.
Giving only a few businesses money so their executives can get their R200 000 per month salary is not okay with me and the people.
We all pay tax and vat. So this money must come to the people.
This is something I feel very strongly about and it irritates me to no end that we must all only get money through established companies.
Everyone needs to eat. Even R800 per month during this crisis can help people eat.
I am doing okay, but what about the poorer people. Even some middle class people have no money at all now. But the poor? Yoh.
If this goes on for 3 months, many will die otherwise.
Please suggest this on your influential platforms.
Stay safe,
Tasmyn
Thanks Tasmyn,
About the only thing i know for sure right now is i don’t want to have to be in those places making those decisions because they are extremely difficult ones to make and peoples lives are at stake for sure. i am hoping they will listen to all the stakeholders and do what is best for the majority of people, knowing that whatever they do and however they go about it, it will likely be up to those of us who have more to walk alongside those who have less. This is a huge opportunity for the wealthy to show some love and compassion and we have to hope they will although historically they have tended towards selfishness and greed and it is often those who have less who do more for those around them. But we will need to dig deep and discover the heart of Ubuntu like never before.
Love brett fish