Metro.co.uk: World Cup bosses kick out homeless

http://www.metro.co.uk/news/world/819444-world-cup-bosses-kick-out-homeless

Miles Erwin
Metro.co.uk

World Cup bosses kick out homeless
Charities have condemned plans to hide thousands of South African beggars, tramps and street children while the World Cup is on.

About 300 have already been moved from Cape Town, where England face Algeria on June 18.

They have been taken to nearby Blikkiesdorp camp on Cape Flats, where 1,450 families are packed into an area designed for 450 people.

Residents describe it as a ‘dumping ground’ which is unsafe and infested with drugs. Once the tournament is over, the homeless will be allowed to return.

Ruth Tanner, campaigns director at War on Want, said: ‘Rather than temporarily cleaning up for the World Cup, the South African government needs to tackle the problem of housing and improve living conditions for South Africans.’

Warren Whitfield, chief executive of the Addiction Action Campaign, said: ‘Forcibly moving homeless people to temporary camps violates their human rights’.

The removals began with 800 people shifted from Johannesburg.

Rustenburg, where England play the US on June 12, is expected to do the same. A Johannesburg local government spokesman said: ‘Homelessness and begging are big problems. You have to clean your house before you have guests.’