Newcastle’s homeless community has reached concerning levels with an immense amount of destitute individuals living under the Hardwick Street Bridge. Despite local authorities and the municipality’s efforts to remedy the situation, the issue persists.
When looking at the homeless community under the bridge, on 12 June 2024, Newcastillian News reported how the number of individuals living under the bridge had grown substantially over recent times.
At the time, the Chairperson for the Newcastle Community Policing Forum, Ismaeel Dhalech, explained that most housebreaking cases in Newcastle, alongside petty crime, were linked to certain individuals living under the bridge.
Adding to this, the homeless community were linked to mass amounts of pollution under the bridge, impacting both the premises around it and the river running under the bridge.
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With the small community growing in size, alongside the allegations of these individuals contributing to crime and illegal dumping, the Newcastle Municipality jumped into action in an attempt to remedy the situation before it escalated further.
As reported by Newcastillian News on 21 June 2024, the Newcastle Municipality sent officials to the bridge to start clearing the massive amounts of pollution and litter caused by the homeless community, while also instructing the individuals to vacate the area and return to their respective towns and homes. It should be highlighted that not all the destitute hail from Newcastle, but rather from different towns and only a select few hailed from the Newcastle area.
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Despite Newcastle Municipality officials requesting the homeless leave the vicinity, the homeless continue to reside under the bridge in their makeshift shelters.
However, one homeless woman residing under the bridge confirmed on Monday, 1 July 2024, that some of their numbers have left and moved on, with the community’s population now standing at 50, of which 10 are women and the remainder are men.
Looking at the situation as it currently stands, the Newcastle Municipality now finds its hands tied in that it cannot physically remove the homeless at this point. The Communications Unit noted that the responsibility of dealing with the homeless does not form part of the Municipality’s responsibility, but rather the Department of Social Development.
However, the municipality stated that this does not mean that it would simply leave the matter. The Communications Unit explained, “Newcastle Council has approved the By-laws for Nuisance in Public Areas, as well as the Unlawful Occupation of Property, which were gazetted on 9 May 2024. From a by-law enforcement perspective, these will be fully implemented once the Chief Magistrate endorses the determination of fines,” explained the Communications Unit.
Additionally, the Communications pointed out that the Municipality conducted a campaign on 21 June 2024 to address the issue of littering and illegally occupying the space under Hardwick Street Bridge.
With this said the Communications reiterated that once the Magistrate endorsed the determination of fines, action would be taken against unlawful activities.
As the Newcastle Municipality now waits for the Chief Magistrate to endorse the determination of fines, what are your thoughts on the above? Share your views in the comment section below.
Comments 9
Good morning, I would like to know when it comes to a children’s park area in our community. In other words the vacant land with swings, slides etc. What is a resident to do if this park is occupied by people drinking, some appears to be underage, playing loud music, shouting and talking in raised voices. Then once they have had their party, they leave all their litter, beer bottles (at times broken) leaving our park in such a mess for our children.
Good day and thank you for making contact. According to the new bylaws, it is not permitted for anyone to drink in public. Therefore, please contact the Community Services at the Municipality on 034 328 7600 to report the incident, as it is happening. This would be your best point of call in order to alert the authorities to assist. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us via email at info@newcastillian.com
Have a great day.
According to this article, the bylaws are not enforceable at this stage.
According to comments made on the previous articles regarding the homeless under the bridge, the Traffic Department would apparently be responsible for enforcing by-laws (as vehemently defended by another reader), so there seems to be a misunderstanding as to whose responsibility the by-laws are. Also, consuming alcohol in public was at one point in time against the laws of the country, and not merely a by-law somewhere.
I say remove these bridge dwellers by force, they have homes they just choose to stay under bridge cause they want people to take pity on them. I personally have no sympathy for them.
the only humane thing to do is gather all of them together, question each individual where they come from , once you get your true information load them up in police vans and leave them there ,
Remove those things in bridge!!!!
They are not things.
They are also human.
Repent
If these homeless people had homes, they wouldn’t be “homeless”. Nobody chooses to live under a bridge, especially during the winter. The people who say that the homeless should be treated harshly, do you realise how fortunate you are to have a home and hot food? If a person is so down and out, what resources do they have to inprove your standing in life? How we treat people who do not have a voice or anything to offer in return, says more about us than it says about them. All human life matters. Show your gratefulness for what you have been blessed with, by treating the less fortunate with kindness and compassion. Ofcourse they contribute to crime. Even people who do not have an income, have to eat. In economics it’s called autonomous spending. In general it’s called common sense.