Tshwane tightens security after homeless flee with beds
Nine private security officers have been deployed to a homeless shelter in Lyttleton after two men escaped the shelter and fled with the shelter's mattresses.
The makeshift shelter was set up by the City of Tshwane at the sports ground in Centurion to house the homeless during the national lockdown.
The city’s Lebogang Mahaye says they have had their hands full.
“We deployed a couple of our Tshwane metro police officers and, because of our capacity issues internally with the metro police, we decided that we are going to reinforce the officers with the private security.
“There were also issues of the fence being cut by some of the homeless people and they were using the holes to leave the area and they were causing a nuisance for some of the residents.”
We are dealing with a serious problem here, people removing what is meant to protect and care for them. It’s a tough world but we must not lose hope to protect the weak and the homeless. We are going there today to address the situation. @gpgSocDev @Abramjee pic.twitter.com/tfmYmf0xyK
— Panyaza Lesufi (@Lesufi) April 12, 2020
A number of images surfaced on social media showing two men throwing mattresses over the fence of the sports complex.
Mahaye has confirmed the authenticity of the images.
“I’m now preparing to rush there to see what went wrong. We obviously cannot have this kind of situation continuing.”
Mahaye adds: “These are people who are used to freedom of movement and I must admit it’s not easy to keep them in one place, it’s quite a challenge.”
She further vowed to ensure that those found guilty will be held accountable.
“Those that are found roaming the streets because they are not supposed to be roaming the streets, the metro police will have to take action and make sure that they remove them from the streets.”