Volunteers hope the data they collect can be used to improve services

A pilot project to count people "sleeping rough" on the streets has kicked off in parts of Cape Town.

On the evening of 13 November, about 200 volunteers from different organisations, some of whom also do not have permanent homes, conducted the survey. The organisations involved include U-turn, Streetscapes, MES, New Hope SA, the Haven, and the Voortrekker Road Corridor Improvement District.

The areas covered included Rondebosch, Newlands, Claremont, Kenilworth, Muizenberg, Fish Hoek, Simons Town, and the northern suburbs of Parow, Bellville, and Durbanville. The objective was to assess what services are needed in communities away from the city centre.

The data, which is still being collated, will be used for planning and to assess the success of current programmes.

Respondents were asked how they had ended up sleeping on the street, how long they had been homeless, and whether they had tried to access any services.

Valerie Govender, chief communications officer at U-turn, said the main reasons given for ending up on the streets were family breakdowns, addiction, and unemployment.

"There are so many powerful stories about people who just needed a second chance, people who made the wrong decisions, educated people, some who had been in high profile jobs," she said.

In 2020, GroundUp reported on a study on the cost of homelessness in Cape Town that estimated that over 14,000 people live on the streets in the city. This followed a study by U-turn, with help from Khulisa Streetscapes and MES.

"Based on our own research and interactions with clients, we know that the number of homeless people in the city is far greater than what we've seen in past years," said Govender.

They plan to do another count in six months time and include additional areas.

"There is no way we can tell if rough sleeping is getting worse or better in Cape Town without conducting regular counts," said Jon Hopkins from U-turn.