A homeless shelter located at 3 Kotze Street in Johannesburg, Gauteng, has been closed since December 2023.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) in the region has expressed concern, stating that this shutdown has left over 300 vulnerable women and men with nowhere to turn, depriving them of crucial services that could have helped them leave the streets, rejoin the economy, and restore their dignity.
The Joburg caucus leader, Belinda Kayser-Echeozonjoku, said City of Cape Town has more than 20 shelters that operate efficiently and provide crucial support to those in need.
“How can the City of Johannesburg’s administration sleep at night, knowing they have condemned hundreds of people to suffer in the cold?” asked Kayser-Echeozonjoku.
An occupational health and safety (OHASA) evaluation judged the building unsafe, prompting its immediate shutdown.
Kayser-Echeozonjoku questioned what type of city leadership would allow such a critical resource to degenerate to that point.
Beverley Jacobs and Chantelle Fourie-Shawe, DA Johannesburg councillors, stated that they visited the institution to understand the horrific reality of neglect that ultimately led to its closure.
“Since the closure, the situation has only worsened. There have been multiple attempted break-ins, yet no official security has been assigned to protect the building. Desperate and abandoned, social development officials have been forced to take matters into their own hands to secure the premises.
“Adding insult to injury, the Gauteng Provincial Department of Infrastructure Development - responsible for handing over the facility to the City - has withdrawn all support services. The City’s own property maintenance and management entity, the Joburg Property Company (JPC), has seemingly washed its hands of the whole mess,” they said.
The DA said that it is going to hold the present leadership of the City of Johannesburg accountable in the Section 79 oversight committee and council, adding that the closing of the city’s largest shelter is a scathing indictment of a failed administration that has abandoned the most vulnerable.
IOL