Angels, homeless fall out over funding
| Published date | 28 July 2021 |
| Author | Tara Isaacs tara.isaacs@inl.co.za |
The TVA has denied the allegations, and no one has laid any charges against the organisation.
In 2018, the organisation, which partnered with the community police forum, started renting a three-bedroom house at 40 Wood Drive for R15 000 a month, to serve as a halfway house for homeless families.
According to the organisation’s website, the families are accommodated for a limited time of up to three months to help them get back on their feet.
But on Tuesday July 20, the four families at the halfway house were given until Tuesday July 27 to find somewhere else to stay, because the Angels house and three of the organisation’s directors – who live on the premises – are moving to Parklands, including Ankarien Oelofse, the founder of the TVA.
Ms Oelofse said she could not take any of the homeless residents along with her because the City had told her she needed a “permanent consent of use” permit to run the halfway house from the new address. It could take up to three months to get such a permit, she said.
She said she would rent the new house, 48 York Close, which is currently a creche, for R18 000, and move in at the weekend.
Marian Nieuwoudt, mayoral committee member for spatial planning and environment, said the City had received no land-use application for the York Close property.
Such an application would have to go for public comment and seek approval from various municipal departments – a process that could take several months, she said.
The York Close property is zoned for conventional housing (Single Residential 1).
“A halfway house is not a primary right in the Single Residential zoning, hence application must be made for a consent use,” Ms Nieuwoudt said.
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Astrid Ryke, 40, who lives at the house with her three-year-old son, sat crying in the parking area of Bayside Mall and pointed to a red Volkswagen Citi Golf and said, “This is all I have. I don’t know where my son and I will be living if we are kicked out of the house.”
She said shelters in Cape Town’s CBD were full and had turned her away. She had lost her job at a bookkeeping company when Covid-19 had hit. Unable to pay rent, she had turned to the TVA for help, and used their wi-fi and computers service to hunt for a job, albeit unsuccessfully.
Sometimes the house provided food, but other times she had to fend for herself.
Another resident at the...
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