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There are an estimated 14,357 homeless people living on the streets of Cape Town.
File Photo: Masixole Feni, GroundUp
- A study on the cost of homelessness in Cape Town estimates that more than 14,000 people live on the streets of the city.
- The cost is estimated at R744 million.
- Rand 286 million is spent on criminal justice costs alone.
There are an estimated 14,357 homeless people living on the streets of Cape Town, and more than R744 million a year is spent on the homeless.
These findings were made in a study, “The Cost of Homelessness in Cape Town,” conducted by the NGO U-turn, with the help of Khulisa Streetscapes and MES, GroundUp reported.
According to Jonathan Hopkins, acting director of U-turn, it is the first study on the cost of the homeless in Africa. The purpose of the study was to better understand what is spent on homeless people in Cape Town.
Hopkins said during the virtual studio launch on Tuesday:
We spend more on homelessness than we realize.
The largest category of spending, estimated at R335 million, is towards reactive or punitive costs. This includes urban management, criminal justice costs, security services, and the City’s Displaced Persons Unit (DPU).
Of this, 286 million rand is spent on criminal justice costs alone.
To calculate the costs of criminal justice, the study took survey responses to questions about the number of arrests, the number of court appearances, prison time and time on probation.
The numbers from these questions were then used to calculate criminal justice costs, based on research by the Anti-Drug Alliance, with the figures adjusted to reflect inflation (in 2016, it cost R105 per arrest, for example).
“The reason is that the average person on the street is arrested 11 times more frequently than the average person who is housed,” Hopkins said. This equates to nearly R20,000 per homeless person per year in criminal justice costs.
Humanitarian spending (public support) amounts to R 286 million per year, and development spending (such as shelters and social development) amounts to R 121 million per year.
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The study used various sources to estimate costs for the homeless, such as speaking directly with industry leaders and service providers and using their financial statements and government publications.
To calculate urban management and safety costs, for example, the Cape Town Central Improvement Districts and Voortrekker Road City were contacted directly and asked what proportion was attributed to problems related to homelessness. These proportions were then applied to the 2020 CID budget.
The study surveyed 350 homeless people in Cape Town. The majority (70%) of those surveyed spent more than a year on the street; 45% had spent more than five years on the street.
Hopkins said the study did not attempt to provide solutions to the cost effectiveness of homeless interventions, but that this should be the next step.
Jesse Laitinen, director of the Streetscapes project, said: “We shouldn’t be looking for more costs … but rather how we can use the money that is currently being used pretty badly on ineffective law enforcement … when that could be diverted to programs service that have a real impact. “
U-turn’s full report will be released in two weeks and will be available to the public.
