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People’s Post
CAMPS BAY
CWC for positive change KAYLYNNE BANTOM KAYLYNNE.BANTOM@MEDIA24.COM
W
hen Theresa Massaglia saw the countless issues surrounding crime and other social ills in the Camps Bay area, she immediately knew that she wanted to do something positive. Massaglia says she reached out to other community leaders and soon the Community Who Cares (CWC) group was formed. CWC’s Facebook page is a one-stop hub where any issue pertaining to the community is solved through the various stakeholders attached to it. According to Massaglia, the group consists of Camps Bay and Clifton Ratepayers’ Association members, neighbourhood watch members, local police, law enforcement, the City of Cape Town, the local ward councillor, local businesses and local nonprofit organisation, Camps Bay Community Safety Initiative (CBCSI), among others. “We wanted to create something positive from all the negativity that was happening in our community. This group, as young as it is, has really shown how much can be done if community members and the local government and law enforcement agencies work together. We always encourage one another to pay it forward.” She says one of the many challenges they face in the community is homeless people. She says through the CWC group, in collaboration with the City of Cape Town, more than 30 homeless people have now been employed as car guards. “We have always had homeless people who have been guarding cars at the beachfront and we decided to look at how we can make this work. We looked at how we can get them off the streets.” Massaglia says, since last year, they have members from the CBCSI, together with the City, working to get the about 30 homeless people into the City’s Safe Space shelter. She explains that arrangements also had to be made to get them their identity documents. Fast forward to today, Massaglia says they recently launched blue team: community stewards/car guards. “These men have shown us that they want to work and make
Theresa Massaglia, founder of Community Who Cares (CWC), with car guards Elie Kabeya and Patrick Nderitu. a change in their lives. We refer to them as community stewards because we believe they do more than just guarding cars. They are also the eyes and ears that guard against criminals.” She says the car guards are employed by the CBCSI and receive a stipend from the City’s expanded public works programme. Ricardo Hess (44), originally from Mitchell’s Plain, says he was living on the streets for years. He explains he is happy that he heeded the call to go to the shelter. He has been officially employed as a guard for just over a month. “I now have a job and I am grateful for it. I can now at least buy something for myself.
It has taught me some independence and discipline.” Hess hopes to save enough money so that he can enrol for an armed response course. Louis Shusha (35) has been working as a car guard full time since July. “I am happy that I have a job, I want to go overseas to Japan so I want to work hard toward that,” explains Shusha. Elie Kabeya has been voluntarily guarding cars for more than 10 years and says he is elated that he is now officially employed. “The stipend helps because now I can at least have some money to buy things that I need.” Kabeya says what is even more rewarding is that people in the community treat him
PHOTO: KAYLYNNE BANTOM
more warmly and respectfully. Massaglia says, during the lockdown, CWC launched the #walkamileinmyshoe campaign. The campaign is aimed at collecting sneakers for the car guards. “The name says it all; we are calling on the community to place themselves in someone else’s shoes and make that change by donating a pair.” She says the response has been great and they are hoping to do the handover at the end of the month. She says they still need sneakers for men sizes 7 to 9. Massaglia says the CWC group is proof that instead of complaining communities can join hands and act.