14 Apr 2020 The included letter ( READ HERE ) has been drafted with the unanimous support of the full Board of Directors of the Observatory Improvement District NPC. We acknowledge the enormous strain that the COVID-19 pandemic has placed on the City of Cape Town’s departments and functions and the resultant pressure teams have been placed…
Strandfontein shelter costing City R32m per month but calls still mount for closure
NEWS | IOL | By Marvin Charles Apr 14, 2020 Cape Town – Calls to close the Strandfontein temporary shelter for the homeless are growing amid the cramped conditions inside, little protection from inclement weather and several serious incidents of crime since the facility was erected by the City of Cape Town. Mayor Dan Plato…
Report Back on Strandfontein Camp – Monitor C19 Report
By Tauriq Jenkins | Sunday 12 April 2020 Tauriq Jenkins (a member of an independent task team comprising medical health, legal, social services, gender experts, and civil society invited by the South African Human Rights Commission to report on the relocation camp at Strandfontein Sports Complex) This report is part of the combined independent reports (including…
South Africa: COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdown Demands Safer Temporary Shelters
These were the scenes at the makeshift shelter at the Caledonian stadium in Tshwane before hundreds of vulnerable homeless people were relocated to other smaller shelters across Pretoria. An MSF team conducted health assessments at the stadium and continue to be actively involved in offering care and support to vulnerable populations, including migrants and asylum seekers as…
Homeless people and food security expected to top agenda for new WC pandemic oversight committee.
NEWS | Daily Maverick | By Suné Payne• 16 April 2020 A row over a City of Cape Town relocation camp for homeless people and food security should be high on the agenda of a new oversight committee established by the Western Cape legislature, say MPLs. The Western Cape provincial legislature has launched an oversight committee…
Covid-19 brings rubber bullets and water for the poor
The pandemic has pushed the state towards effective action, but this is simultaneoulsy taking both repressive and potentially progressive forms. In South Africa, and around the world, old certainties, many of them already a little brittle, are rapidly crumbling. The velocity of the changes taking place in the state, the economy and society are extraordinary….
City’s waste management during lockdown: What residents need to know
CITY OF CAPE TOWN 13 APRIL MARCH 2020 STATEMENT BY THE CITY’S MAYORAL COMMITTEE MEMBER FOR WATER AND WASTE, ALDERMAN XANTHEA LIMBERG Waste management is classified as an essential service and the City of Cape Town is committed to ensuring that delivery of basic services is maintained throughout the lockdown period. Given that these…
City rolls out further community COVID-19 screening
CITY OF CAPE TOWN 14 APRIL 2020 The efforts on the clinical front are being amplified by additional interventions from other departments to help flatten the curve and curb the spread of COVID-19. Read more below: The City of Cape Town, in conjunction with the Western Cape Health Department and NPO partners are continuing the…
The Outcome of the Heritage Appeal Tribunal
On the 14 April 2020, after almost two years, the Ministerial Appeal Tribunal considering the appeal by the River Club Developers, supported by the City of Cape Town, and two provincial departments (DEADP and DTPW) came to a thunderous conclusion – that the Appeal had no merit and that the HWC decision “to provisionally protect…
Usefull Community Action Networks (CAN) Group info
For those of you who wish to get involved in doing something helpful to fight COVID-19, I want to draw your attention to various activities organized through the Observatory Community Action Networks, one of 78 active CAN‘s across Cape Town, involving more than 1200 volunteers. Click on the title above for more information. Communities are doing…