January the nineteenth saw the first online Town Hall meeting on the Georgiete Staan Saam Facebook group. Herman Pienaar who is the co-owner of the the Facebook group, said that he will be running regular online meetings to discuss issues that is of importance for George and its communities.
“We are living in a new world, everything as we know it is changing because of the pandemic. This includes the ability to have meetings to discuss important issues.
The purpose of our regular engagements is to promote social cohesion and unity in George. The first step in achieving social cohesion is to understand each other and to achieve that . We need to start talking and connecting to each other.
The idea with these Group engagements is to allow for positive conversations around topics in George, which needs to be addressed.”
Pienaar said that George has always had homeless people. He has been in George for 20 years and it has always been a problem. Everybody knew and know homeless people that just need a helping hand to assist them to get off the street. We all know that there are also vagrants that is also sleeping on the streets, which is also an issue that needs to be addressed.
He believes that we have to start implementing projects and it does not matter how small the project is, we need to start.
“We also have to look at 2030 and ask how will the Homeless issue look by 2030. With this in mind, the projects and solutions that we will collectively come up with will have to be sustainable.So kom ons gesels met mekaar vanaand op ‘n volwasse manier en kom ons soek oplossings. Ek verstaan daar is ‘n frustrasie rondom die homeless en die enigste manier is ongelukkig om dit op die tafel te sit sodat almal kan weet wat die probleme is en so oplossings daarvoor te kan kry.”
Salette Cloete reported about the first meeting in the George Herald. Her article can be found at the following link. https://www.georgeherald.com/News/Article/General/online-discussions
Here are comments made by members of the group:
Here is the link to the Facebook discussion
Thank you for the topic and chance to share. Homeless persons are a diverse group and many of them can be assisted away from the street. To make this happen we need co-operation and a plan to give the right help. Anyone with positive ideas would make a good contribution.
Andre Olivier I think there are enough people who wants to make a positive contribution.
We need cooperation from the powerhouse in the city.
The process to establish a place for the homeless drags now for more then 10years.
We need cooperation from the powerhouse in the city.
The process to establish a place for the homeless drags now for more then 10years.
Respect and discipline starts with every individual You cannot fight for a person’s “human rights” if the person is not willing to comply with the basic rules of respect and discipline
20 hectar ground with water is needed to
1. Recover the person from whatever state of mind they are in
2.Restore the person to their family
3.Reintegrate through skills development certified into various industries
In order to do this infrastructure is needed which can be provided by the community The Municipality have too much on their plate to service something like this but if we can get R10 from every citizen per month The community then runs this facility and not the Government There are people in George who has this calling and for all the negatives accountants and lawyers forms part of the process to ensure accountability.
In order to do this infrastructure is needed which can be provided by the community The Municipality have too much on their plate to service something like this but if we can get R10 from every citizen per month The community then runs this facility and not the Government There are people in George who has this calling and for all the negatives accountants and lawyers forms part of the process to ensure accountability.
Probeer hul verenig met familie. Gee n hand…. nie n rand. As jy wil geld skenk, skenk aan geregistreerde instansies wat uitreik na haweloses.
We need to give the person his/her dignity back. The issue of skills development / transfer is of the utmost importance. We should remember we can teach people to fish, but they need a dam to fish in. We need to look further than just the obvious and we need to look at creating the “dam” or opportunities.
Perhaps a good starting point is to speak to homeless people ask them what they need to permanently get off the street. Now not referring to people addicted to drugs, etc, obviously they need rehab.
Is the idea just to get the homeless off the street because they are an embarrassment to us (sorry for the bluntness) or do we have programs to help them reintegrate back into society and reunite with their families?
We see an everyday increase in needy and homeless people on the streets of George. There is only one night shelter and it’s charging R25,00 per night. The organization, Cremhog, has been awarded land by the George Council for the purpose of dealing with homeless people. The land is close to the station and, although the approval was done by Council, there’s some politicking to this. Cremhog, driven by Andre Olivier and his team, are currently in a stalemate with the Municipality. This is due to the fact that some individuals in power are now deviating from the terms and conditions. I have that info and communication readily available. So, there is an organization with a proper plan, but some people are frustrating or delaying the process. This is due to some hidden agenda, in which case I do not want to divulge here. Fact is that those petty things are robbing people of decent opportunities. But some guys think they are larger than life and misuse their positions. We could have been long passed the situation of homeless in the city had they implemented the Council decision as resolved.
Virgill Gericke that is why this should not be left up to politicians and government but rather the community to stand together I am prepared to give my R10 per month if you are and everybody commenting and that are members of Georgiete staan saam then we have R700 000 per month to address the issue without interference from government or Municipality and we did not ask a cent nor did we require their permission.
Pieter Niemanf ill give R100 per month and I believe many will to help these people
Charles Pieter van Niekerk I am sure there are people that would contribute more than R10 I just use R10 as an example however this brings us into the TRUST issue Just like so many others we have all been trying to eradicate this through various Registered entities Endless red tape but no performance from those who want to govern I produced business plans with a Success record of 67% over 25 years of which 10 years in George We have presented to the minister of Social development the mayors both Eden, and now……….we starting again Let’s do it !
It is also advisable to stop approaching the problem in many different silo’s. We need to get approach the situation in a uniform manner. We must have the same goals and perceived outcomes. Only a coordinated effort will have any impact.
Ronel Johan Bezuidenhout absoluut die waarheid. Dit het tyd geword dat ons almal besef dat hierdie ‘n spanpoging is en elkeen het ‘n rol om te speel.
Goeie naand….baie van die boemelaars wat gerehabiliteer word….vind dit moeilik om aan te pas by hle families…omdat hle nie werk en nie geld inbring vir kos nie…so maatskaplike probleme ontstaan agv van dit….Baie familie lede maak dit so moeilik …en dan is werk moeilik bekombaar…en kort voor lank beland hle dan weer op straat…..
Baie is geleerd …en baie kort die nodige opleiding…wat moeilik is want sommige kan nie lees of skryf nie….soms ontbreek die geld om te betaal vir shelters….So dis regtig n challenge vir baie van hle…Vir hle gaan dit oor om te survive…
Linda Branders Ek het vroeer gesê dat dit nie help om mense net te leer visvang, as daar nie ‘n dam is om in vis te vang nie. Ons moet die dam “create”. Daar is wel baie moontlikhede waaroor ons kan besin en werkbare planne wat geimplementeer kan word.
Ons loop ons elke keer vas teen n finansiële muur. Alles kos deesda baie geld. Groot frustrasie!
die kwessie van haweloses in ons dorp is nogal n redelike ernstig dog dringende kwessie wat aandag behoort te geniet maar wat ook baie versigtig benader behoort te word en nou praat ek uit eerstehandse ondervinding huidiglik in ons CBD sit ons met 3groepe haweloses 1-diegene wat werklik geen heenkome het nie en moontlik George toe gekom het in die hoop om werk en moontlik n beter lewe te kry ongelukkig het dinge nie verloop soos verwag was nie.
2-inwoners van die dorp wat weens omstandighede bokant hulle op straat beland het met die gevolg dat van hul vriende en familie het bande verbreek met hulle moontlik deur fout wat gemaak is
3-sit ons met diegene wat moedswillig is en doodeenvoudig rebels is en nie onder gesag wil staan of reels gehoorsaam nie gewoonlik is hulle diegene wat motors inbreek /dwelmsmisbruik en selfs gebruik word om misdaad te pleeg hulle het op straat beland weens groepsdruk 8/10 keer is dit die geval ek was deel van die groep met groepe 1 en 2 kan mens nog werk en hulle weer suksesvol verenig met hul families en moontlik weer hul eer herstel maar met laaste groep is dit gewoonlik bietjie moeilik .
Charles Pieter van Niekerk – Enrico Stalmeester mooi opgesom
Pieter Niemanf –Â Enrico Stalmeester die laaste groep is net so omdat ons gemeenskappe dit toelaat. Die oomblik as dwelmgebruikers ophou koop het verkopers nie n Mark nie ” human rights” kan alleenlik verleen word aan mense wat deel van n gemeenskap wil wees en die nodig respek en discipline handhaaf Die wet is nie aan die gemeenskap se kant nie so miskien moet ons diegene aan die gemeenskap uitlewer om te deel na goed denke?
Enrico Stalmeester –Â Charles Pieter van Niekerk en hiermee se ek nie dat groep 3 nie rehabiliteerbaar of nie kan regkom nie is net dat dit bietjie moeiliker en baie toewyding en geduld vat met n suksesrate van moontlik 3.5/10 maar dit kan selfs nog beter wees as almal saamwerk met die nodige profesionele instansies.
Kom ons stel n data basis op met info van elke persoon waarin hy goed of geskoold is en van waar of van watter ward die persoon is…en ons probeer die verhouding tussen hle herstel….Dit sal nie maklik wees nie maar dit sal en kan werk….Baie van die kids wil nie onder hle ouers se gesag staan nie….baie kom weer van vêr af vir werk in george …so ons begin daai data basis dan sal ons weet wie is wie en vanwaar…So sal n mens n breër begrip het van al die homeless en dan vat ons dit daarvandaan…..Glo my van hle is diep geskilled…
Herman Pienaar – Linda Branders love die idee. Inteendeel dit is in ons beplanning om so ‘n skills audit te doen.
Linda Branders – Ja Herman daars baie organisasies waarna n mens sekere gevalle na kan verwys…en saam mee kan werk wat die rehabiliterings proses betref
Please follow the link below for the complete post and comments
Here is the link to the Facebook discussion
Here is the link to the Facebook discussion