Muizenberg

Address: 173 Main Rd, Muizenberg

Ministries in Muizenberg

• Substance Abuse Recovery Programme
• Charity Shop

Inside Muizenberg

Muizenberg seems to attract the destitute and the homeless for a number of reasons but chiefly the opportunity to make money and find shelter. Muizenberg is a very popular surfing and beach resort and it attracts visitors throughout the year – even in winter and with the visitors come opportunities to make money ( legally and illegally). The homeless do car washing and car guarding as well as being informal guides. The B&B’s and other tourist accommodation business use the homeless as casual labour for meanial tasks. The other attraction is the access to the large park and mountain where many of the homeless sleep in makeshift shelters. The mountain affords relative protection and seclusion from the police and other security personnel. In recent days, before the elections, even the mountain became unsafe as they were harassed and their meager belongings confiscated or destroyed by over zealous police officers who were instructed by counselors seeking election to “clean-up” the area. A further attraction is that many come from poor areas via train and as there is little ticket monitoring, they “steal train” as they call it to Muizenberg. Apparently from Muizenberg further south there are more frequent checks and they are more likely to get caught. So they get off and generally stroll in the area. Muizenberg also tends to be a “road hub” where people move through traveling from south to other areas of the city and this adds to the prostitution problem. The hookers do a trade with passing cars, and, here again, the beach and mountain comes into “play”. This is obviously the same for drug trafficking.