A homeless man queues to drink Methadone Oral Solution, provided as an effort to care for drug dependent people at a temporary homeless shelter at the Lyttelton Sports Centre. (Phill Magakoe, AFP)
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The majority of South Africans are suffering. Many of us struggle to make ends meet as it is. But there is still something we can do to help and it won’t cost you a thing, writes Saya Pierce-Jones.
Think of every headline you remember coming out of South Africa. Now ask yourself: When last did the death of a homeless person make the news?
Now try recalling when, or even if the rape of a homeless woman has ever made the headlines.
The last time I remember the plight of the homeless getting so much media attention was back in July last year, when it came to light that the City of Cape Town was actively "enforcing by-laws" by financially punishing those with no-where to live.
While the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) rushed to get a court interdict against the City, the Sea Point Ratepayers Association paid for a lawyer to support the City in court.
They were worried that not being able to fine homeless people could "lead to a situation of chronic and irreversible settlements and 'homelessness' on the Atlantic Sea Board".
The issue of fining the homeless reared its ugly head again this year when an officer gave a resident at the controversial Strandfontein lock-down shelter site, a R500 fine for his "riotous" behaviour.
City officials expect him to hand over the money by the 15 July or go to court.
In response the city mayoral committee member for Safety and Security, JP Smith said: “I'm not sure what our officers were expected to do in this situation - we cannot allow people to behave aggressively and get away with it."
What he had failed to mention was that the mental health support, substance abuse treatment or even the adult time-out measures had been exhausted before the officer issued the fine.
And that’s likely because there weren’t any.
In a recent scathing report sent to the SAHRC, experts found that accessing healthcare, even physical care, was not easy.
Which was even more worrying when they found several shelter residents with "severe mental health diseases such as schizophrenia and dementia", and others with "urinary and faecal incontinence".
They had been left without assistance.
One gentleman in particular was found suffering from such a severely altered mental state, that he was disorientated in time and space and could no longer take care of himself.
Aside from the obvious recommendation to shut the site down, the report also raised concern around how the living conditions were endangering the safety of residents.
Having nearly 1 500 women, men, transgender women, elderly people, pregnant women, disabled people, drug users and gang members all bunched together was always going to be a recipe for disaster.
This disaster presented itself in another new headline, of how a 36-year-old man had been arrested for raping an 18-year-old homeless woman.
The incident took place just days after the shelter had opened.
Given the circumstance and lack of support, it’s not surprising that she was only able to report the matter two days later, when she was finally taken to hospital for medical attention.
It’s unlikely that she was the only victim of gender-based violence, as many women told the research group they did not feel safe at the camp, especially at night around the toilet and shower facilities.
Reports of women being traded for sex and cigarettes quickly followed.
And then, there was the death …
One of the residents who walked into that shelter had no idea he’d be leaving in a body bag or that his passing would make national news.
The City of Cape Town said his death was due to natural causes.
But news of his death didn’t originally come from city officials, it came after the SAHRC’s Chris Nissen was tipped off about it and started investigating.
At that point it had also become near impossible to get accurate information out of the camp, as the city decided to ban the media from entering the premises.
To this day, no one has been able to put a name to the body of that gentleman.
Cape Town wasn’t the only place were news of homeless people has come to the forefront.
Over in Gauteng, a miscalculation by the provincial government proved officials had no idea just how wide-spread the issue of homelessness was.
When lockdown shelter planning began, they thought there were only 15 000 homeless people who’d need to be catered for in the province.
Turns out that figure was just a third of the now 50 000 people estimated to be homeless.
Underestimating the need of the other 35 000 people then led to overcrowding in shelters and shortages of food, bedding and sanitation.
It’s then no surprise that by Day 13 of the lock-down, 88% of the City of Johannesburg’s homeless residents had still not been housed.
Now we need to ask ourselves why these stories of have suddenly gripped the nation.
It’s not as if it weren’t happening before the lockdown and it’s unlikely that it’ll end afterwards.
So why all this coverage now?
Perhaps South Africans have developed an appetite for news about the country’s most vulnerable.
Maybe it takes collective suffering during a pandemic, for us to consider the suffering of those nameless, faceless human beings?
Or maybe it’s because when the lockdown began, their suffering was the first glaringly obvious reminder about the massive inequality in South Africa.
No matter which way you look at it, "it is the poor who will suffer the most".
Personally, I found it hard to think about anything else, seeing empty streets resembling the set of a zombie apocalypse movie as tired and starving people slowly swayed from bin to bin in the hopes of finding scraps of food.
We may never know the reason why their plight has become news-worthy lately but what we do know is that if we don’t act, we can surely expect to read more harrowing stories of their pain.
Here’s the good news though: The more concern and interest we, as privileged South Africans, give to this matter, the more coverage it will get.
Before this lockdown, you may not have heard about Pretoria’s Community Oriented Substance Use Programme (COSUP).
The group is now making headlines because their programme to treat heroin addicts, by giving them methadone, has roughly doubled in size since the lockdown began.
Easier access to this service at some homeless shelters is welcomed relief for anyone wanting to sober up or at the very least, stave off those horrible withdrawal symptoms.
You may also not have been fully aware of the host of services gender-based violence shelters offer to newly-homeless women and children.
With a little extra help from government, many of these shelters have also been able to expand their capacity to house victims during the lockdown.
Look don’t get me wrong, I’m not expecting anyone suddenly to reach out and help every single homeless person in the country. Right now that’s simply not possible.
The majority of South Africans are suffering. Many of us struggle to make ends meet as it is. But there is still something we can do to help and it won’t cost you a thing.
If you too, find it crazy that your municipality has a by-law allowing officials to take money from the penniless, say something.
Take part in those public participation processes and write to your local ward councillor.
Demand to see the section of the National Health Insurance scheme that will support substance abuse programmes, like COSUP.
Question the budgets being given to GBV houses and temporary shelters, and whether they’ll get to enjoy the same expanded financial support after this lockdown.
Come down like a ton of bricks on the government when it disregards homeless people from elsewhere on our continent, those are still human beings.
While a homeless person might not be able to scroll through timelines, you’ve got the power to click, share and comment on news pieces about them, keeping the conversation going.
Finally don’t forget to celebrate the organisations that have been tirelessly serving the homeless long before this lockdown took place.
At worst, these organisations might be the only ones who remember to care for our most vulnerable when they’re no longer making the news.
- Saya Pierce-Jones is broadcast journalist and radio news anchor in the Western Cape. Her focus is on social justice and environmental conservation. The views expressed here are her own.