The Commission will engage strategic stakeholders on mechanisms for ensuring that organisations operating shelters, do so in a human rights compliant manner.  The Commission has also invited donor organisations (companies) via their Corporate Social Investment (CSI) departments to form part of these discussions to ensure the effectiveness of their donations and contributions. Shelters are often run by NGOs which rely on donor support to perform their core activities. Donor funding can however not be given and then forgotten. The meeting will therefore explore the question of what obligations, if any, there are or should be on donors who fund organisations, which offer services to the homeless, to monitor the use of their contributions.

Complaints relating to food donations not being distributed to the persons for whom it is intended may indicate that there is a challenge in oversight or possibly in staffing.  This complaint is one which has been received on more than one occasion and against different shelters. Questions around what monitoring mechanisms are in place to ensure that food donations are reaching the people they are intended for will therefore also form part of these discussions.
The Commission’s main reason for this engagement however relates to the fact that there is still a challenge, where people living on the streets prefer the streets to the relative comfort of a shelter. In order to begin to address the problem of rising homelessness, the Commission considers it important to look at the reasons why this may be the case. Considering why people prefer to live on the streets rather than go into shelters, and receive the services offered through these shelters (from family reunification, job readiness programmes or even the assistance to get documented and then apply for social grants) is an important aspect of getting the system working optimally. Such success stories abound and yet if there are people who refuse to enter the shelters, they cannot access these services and are likely to remain on the streets.

Questions around the way in which shelters may be operating, which could discourage people from seeking life altering services need to be explored. The Commission, in holding this conversation seeks to create an ongoing conversation on how the exiting systems can be improved on to ensure greater effectiveness, thereby addressing the problem of people living on the streets and not being able to access or enjoy their basic guaranteed rights.
Having conversations with stakeholders has proven to be an effective strategy in bringing all interested and affected parties around the table discussing challenges and hearing input from all on possible solutions. The approach gives effect to the Commission’s national initiative, the Social Harmony National Effort or SHiNE and simultaneously introduces stakeholders to the main themes which ground the SHiNE.  

Ends

For further information contact the SAHRC WCPO’s Ms T. Carter, Advocacy Consultant, via email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  or Western Cape Provincial Manager, Ms. Zena Nair This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Alternatively call 021 426 2277.