Building partnerships with Safe Spaces

11 March 2026

On Monday, 9 March 2026, the Mayoral Committee Member for Community Service and Health, Councillor Francine Higham visited the MES Safe Space in Bellville – one of numerous organisations working with the City to reduce rough sleeping.

The MES Safe Space in Bellville helps rough sleepers with shelter and other social services – similar to the City’s Safe Space model. It is also one of the NGOs that have in the past secured assistance through the City’s Winter Readiness Programme for shelters.

‘It was great to see first-hand the work that happens at MES. The visit was an opportunity to build on the existing partnership, but also to identify possible future opportunities to collaborate. MES is one of the organisations that have a long history of delivery in the city’s northern suburbs – we know from our own surveys, and the most recent Census results that rough sleeping occurs across many parts of the city. It is therefore so encouraging to see organisations like MES providing vital support and resources in these communities,’ said Mayoral Committee Member for Community Services and Health, Councillor Francine Higham.

MES has also built strong partnerships with local stakeholders. The organisation works closely with the local City Improvement District (CID) and neighbourhood watch structures. The MES team is also a member of the City’s Vanguard Action Committee, which translates the Vanguard Cities agreement into practical action in Cape Town.

At the Durbanville Safe Space, which MES also runs, the organisation has developed a strong working relationship with the City’s Urban Mobility Directorate to enable access to nearby public ablutions for clients. These kinds of collaborative approaches are valuable examples of how different partners can work together to support rough sleepers off the street while also responding to the needs of the broader community.

‘It was such an honour to have Cllr Higham and her team visit us. We could share our history of the very first safe space in South Africa and show her all the other activities needed to give people pathways out of homelessness. We loved to see how Cllr Higham interacted with our staff and programme peer workers. She really listened to them and she always had a word of encouragement. We are very privileged to have councillors and officials that really care and are actively working with us to solve homelessness the right way,’ says Ilse Maartens, MES Cape Town Branch Manager.

Captions: Cllr. Francine Higham with officials from the MES Safe Space

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Published by:
City of Cape Town, Media Office