CoCT hails relocation of homeless, but street dwellers worried their possessions are lost

CAPE TOWN - The City of Cape Town says evictions of homeless people from the streets of Cape Town went smoothly this week, with many people accepting offers of social assistance.

Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis said more than 160 people were relocated to safe spaces after being removed from unlawfully occupied sites in Buitengracht Street, Foregate Square, Helen Suzman Boulevard, and the Foreshore.

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Early on Friday morning, the city's law enforcement unit and Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) workers went through the city dismantling informal structures and tents before offering the homeless accommodation at the city's safe spaces.

Ganief Segers, who was removed from Buitengracht Street, is one of many homeless individuals who fear they have lost their belongings.

"We are people. They are treating us like dogs... They move our stuff, and it's gone. All my personal belongings, gone."

Segers said he was working on Friday morning when his items were confiscated.

"If I go ask them where it is, they will not pay me back... My personal details, like my ID and all those things... it's gone."

The city said the items were stored at the city’s Ndabeni facility, to be collected within six months.