City of Cape Town adds 550 new beds to shelters accommodating homeless people

The City of Cape Town says it has added about 550 new beds to shelters that accommodate the homeless across Cape Town, for this winter.

It’s estimated that there are more than 14 000 people that live on the streets of the city and surroundings.

Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis says the beds are progressively being added to both the city’s and NGO-run shelters.

Hill-Lewis says the shelters cater for various needs.

“This is part of our programme to expand safe spaces around the city and to cater for more homeless Capetonians to get them off the streets. So that they can get job placements, social workers, medical care, hot food, a place to wash and ablutions,” adds Geordin Hill-Lewis.

Meanwhile, Capetonians are in for a cold and wet week as the first heavy cold front of winter has made landfall in the City.

According to the South African Weather Service (SAWS), a series of cold fronts will pass through the Western Cape until midweek.

Localised flooding and weather-related incidents have put disaster management crews on high alert.

A number of roads across the city have already flooded after hours of persistent rainfall. Capetonians woke up to the wet and windy weather which earned the city its nickname, the “Cape of storms”.

The cold front follows a week of scorching temperatures which reached into the high 20s over the past few days.

The Weather Service says more than 80 millimetres of rain has already fallen in some areas since Sunday night.

Cape Town braces for cold week as front makes landfall: