MOSSEL BAY NEWS - The Mossel Bay Advertiser has received complaints about The Haven Night Shelter.
A member of the public, who wanted to attend The Haven AGM a few months back, said he was told there was no space for him to attend because of Covid-19 rules.
This person complains that The Haven is being operated like a “boarding house”, with “clients” paying rent.
Its purpose was supposed to be a shelter for the homeless, not a boarding house, he said.
Also, a different person presented a letter to the Mossel Bay Advertiser, titled:
"Human rights violations and abusive and rude shelter staff: Request for new ownership and management of the Mossel Bay Haven night shelter"
The letter listed these complaints:
- People forced out of their rooms from 08:00 to 16:00. This includes pensioners and working people on their days off work. (They have to sit in the communal room, which is stuffy, and where they must wear their masks all the time, whereas they would not have to wear their masks in their rooms.)
- Manager lazy and unconcerned regarding problem solving.
- No toilet paper at The Haven for two weekends in a row.
- Insufficient nutrition: most meals are soup and old bread.
- Pensioners who pay R1 100 of their R1 700 SASSA grant are refused toilet paper (a written rule).
- Clients live in constant fear of being thrown out.
- It is felt the owner of The Haven, Mr Khan, at head office (Cape Town) views the The Haven simply as a money-making scheme, as problems addressed to head office such as bullying, corruption, racism and theft of fees and donations are brushed under the carpet - despite written petitions.
The letter concluded: "This is a request for the Mossel Bay Municipality, out of respect and concern for its town’s residents, to take back ownership of The Haven and employ new staff with kind hearts and respect."
The municipality responds
The municipality does not have a role in The Haven. The municipality told the Mossel Bay Advertiser: "Mossel Bay Municipality is not involved in the management of the shelter and cannot comment on the complaints on how the shelter is being managed."
The Haven responds
The Mossel Bay Advertiser presented the complaints to the CEO of The Haven group, Hassan Khan, based in Cape Town, and he responded thus:
The Haven was established as an NGO in 1978 and today has 15 branches in the Western Cape, including an old aged home.
We have a fixed bed capacity of 1 097 in the province. At Mossel Bay we have a bed capacity of 84.
The Haven is grateful for the support by the Department of Social Development (DSD) in the Western Cape, the local authorities, community organisations, businesses and individual community members. Bless them.
We exist to help adult homeless persons to re-unite with their families or reintegrate within a communities of choice. Our method includes offering social work services, hospitality and support to adults willing to work on ending their homelessness. Our secondary function is to be a pipeline to the poor; we thus share all goods, food and resources in excess of Haven requirements with the poor, primarily with NGOs and or families in need.
We are monitored and evaluated by the DSD and score in excess of 94% on average in the Haven on compliance measured in 86 areas of our work.
The allegation made in this instance is misinformed and scandalous.
- Our AGM was accessible via Zoom to any interested party and we have no record of anyone being excluded.
- The Haven Mossel Bay, an 84-bed shelter, dealt with 164 persons from 1 April 2020 to 30 November 2020. During this time 15 persons were reunited with their families after an average stay of 136 days. A further 18 persons were reintegrated into the community. Of the 80 persons who exited 33 persons are regarded as positive exits, leaving us with a success rate of exits of 41.25%, hardly a “boarding house” with such turnover.
Yes, some do stay beyond the recommended 180 days, but we work towards sustainable reintegration. - The food in The Haven is of a really good quality. Our staff eat the same food as our clients at mealtimes. We also undertake satisfaction surveys on quality and quantity of food. All food is received, processed, prepared and consumed in areas covered by cameras, making it easy to resolve complaints received or verify claims.
- The Haven provides all the necessities including toilet paper in its bathrooms. Anyone wishing to use it as tissues etc., buys their own.
- The allegation of “clients living in fear of being thrown out”: we acknowledge that anyone threatening or physically harming anyone in a Haven shelter will have their services terminated immediately.
All other termination of services is done in writing and comes into effect after the client has been given sufficient time to correct the reason for considering a termination of service. Even after a termination of service the client has the right of appeal which may be escalated to the Haven head office. - Ownership of The Haven is vested in the Haven Night Shelter W.O. NPO no. 002-831 PBO 130002172.
Any financial surpluses is used for the realisation of the vision and mission of the Haven. The Haven’s audited financials are available by emailing a request to info@haven.org.za.
'We bring you the latest Mossel Bay, Garden Route news'
