Homeless man’s struggle to keep his beloved dogs
The City of Cape Town has told Clayton Smith to leave De Waal Park where he has lived for 13 years
Clayton Smith with his dogs, Mango and Aisha. He has been living in De Waal Park for the last 13 years. He has been served a notice to vacate by the City of Cape Town. Photos: Matthew Hirsch
- Clayton Smith, who has lived in a small storeroom at Cape Town’s De Waal Park for 13 years, has been served a 30-day eviction notice.
- Smith says the City of Cape Town offered “safe space” accommodation but it would require giving up his two dogs, his constant companions since losing his mother during the Covid lockdown and struggling with depression.
- The City says it is a challenge to provide shelter for homeless people with pets.
- Some local community members, like Michael Bosazza, want the City to find a compassionate solution.
For 13 years, Clayton Smith has called De Waal Park in Cape Town home. He lives in a small storeroom with his two dogs, Mango and Aisha. Now they face an uncertain future. Smith has been served with a 30-day notice to vacate the park.
“It’s really scary, because I wouldn’t know what to do. Where would I go with my two dogs?” he asks.
He says officials offered the City of Cape Town “safe space” as alternative accommodation, but he’d have to give up his dogs.
“The idea is sickening to me,” he says. “They are not my dogs, they are my children. I would rather go back to the streets with them than have to go to a safe place and know that they are not with me.”
Ending up on the streets
Smith went to Jan van Riebeeck High School in Gardens but had to drop out in Grade 10 due to financial difficulties.
When his mother Catherine lost her job as a domestic worker, she and Smith ended up on the streets before moving into the storeroom at the park.
Smith says he worked in several restaurants, but “I was worrying about my mama being alone on the street. I had to give that up too.”
His mother cleaned the toilets in the park and he did odd jobs, including planting a small garden.
His mother, the youngest of ten children, was originally from the Northern Cape. She died of diabetes complications during the Covid lockdown in 2020.
Outside his small living space is a ramshackle workshop where he makes art using recycled materials. He has also made a memorial dedicated to his late mother.
“Some people didn’t like it because they said it’s becoming like a scrap yard.
“After mama’s passing, I haven’t been creative much at all. I fell into a little depression. I isolated myself, always remained inside with my dogs and only came out when they needed a walk. I was not up and about as I used to be finding things to do.”
He has pleaded with the City for “some kind of leniency”.
The news of Smith’s eviction notice received mixed reactions on the Friends of De Waal Park Facebook page. Some people have welcomed it while others have expressed concern. One of those is Michael Bosazza, who lives opposite the park.
Bosazza told GroundUp that he has known Smith since he was a child. He recalls that it was a “very cold winter” when Smith first moved into the park with his mother.
He said Smith’s dogs followed him everywhere. “It would be incredibly cruel to take them away from him.”
Bosazza added that while not everyone likes Smith’s artwork, he is very creative.
“I think Clayton is such a special case and I wish we could do something for him.”
Priya Reddy, director of communications for the City, confirmed that Smith had been served with a notice to leave. She said similar notices had been served to people occupying the Kloof Street Park.
“While City Safe Spaces welcome individuals seeking refuge, it’s important to note that our facilities are not equipped to provide shelter specifically tailored for pets”.
“Safe Spaces and other shelter providers must navigate legal and liability concerns associated with accommodating pets. These concerns may include allergies, property damage, or potential conflicts among animals, necessitating careful consideration and management. The City does not have the necessary resources and infrastructure to adequately support people living on the streets with pets,” said Reddy.
She said there was a need for “comprehensive solutions to address this gap in services”.
She said the department could help Smith register on the employment database, but this would not affect the eviction process.
Asked what would happen if Smith refused to go, she said, “The City’s priority is to find a constructive resolution to this matter.”
Sitting on a park bench, Smith said he hoped a compromise can be reached.
“I do not want to be a burden for the City or the visitors of this park,” he said. “I wish that I could work for them again and have peace of mind that my doggies are going to be ok. This is the only home they know after being rescued.”
The small space that Clayton Smith shares with his dogs, Mango and Aisha.
Letters
Dear Editor
I have written to our councillor asking for leniency in this matter. The answer was predictable; rules are rules, why should an exception be made, and so forth. Why indeed? And why not?? Cape Town is full of quirky characters eking out a living as best they can. Nobody has been hurt. Nobody but the usual complainers want him gone! Leave Clayton alone, we can do without another lost homeless man and his two dogs.
Dear Editor
I'm appealing to the City of Cape Town to show some compassion towards Clayton in De Waal Park.
Although I fully support getting people off the streets and into safe places, if you can't provide for beloved pets, you have to find an alternative. Anyone who is an animal lover knows just how important a lifeline pets can be, and to take them away from him would be inhumane. He has little enough as it is.
Dear Editor
This seems unbelievably cruel and short-sighted. Clayton is a self-appointed caretaker and has created something actually rather lovely. Okay, it may not be art to everyone's tastes, but it is a quirky installation using litter, nature, his vivid imagination, and it is now part and parcel of what is, let's be honest, a large space that can accommodate it. His dogs are passive and gentle, he tries to assist park goers (including me one day when I lost – and he successfully found – my keys!) Who is he actually harming? He may have bad days – he certainly has good enough reason to! But where is the human compassion and understanding? I simply don't understand people.
Dear Editor
Therapy dogs are essential for some people's mental health. Surely a creative win/win solution can be found.
There are too many neglected dogs. This man with his companions is an example for children.
Dear Editor
If Clayton's dogs have not harmed anyone since he has lived in the park, and if Clayton himself has not harmed anyone, why not integrate Clayton and his dogs into the city's maintenance and security plan for De Waal Park? They seem more like an asset than a liability.
One-size-fits-all approaches don’t work for homeless communities, and the city's approach does more harm than good.
Those offering solutions for homeless persons also need to consider imaginative shelter spaces that include dogs for therapy, wellbeing, and integration of people.
Safe spaces are not an alternative.
The small storage space he sleeps in is a safe space already. Institutionalise it!
Dear Editor
This is tragic. Can he not be used to guard the park, making it a safe place for people and their dogs to walk in? Keep him on the premises.
Dear Editor
After losing his mother, Clayton only has his two dogs as companions. How can you justify breaking up this family and say it's to assist him?
Would you be happy being forced to give up your kids? His dogs will end up being put down because of their age and lack of space at the SPCA.
There is nothing justifiable in the City's decision to evict this man. Find a place or farm for him where he can live with his pets. Don't destroy this family.
Dear Editor
Dogs are angels in disguise whom God has sent to help us navigate this life.
Proverbs 14:31: "Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honours God"
So where there's a will, there's a way.
Dear Editor
The homeless have been offered alternate safe places to live as per the requirements of court action. Using pets as an excuse not to take up these offers is just another stalling tactic in my mind.
If I had to go to an old age home, I'd most likely have to give up my pets as well.
Dear Editor
The story of this man and his two companion dogs being told to move from their home sounds heartless, bureaucratic and cruel! To separate this homeless man from his loving companions is wrong, and I would ask the City of Cape Town to help this man find a place where he can stay with his dogs! Maybe he can work and develop the gardens and be employed by the City! Please show kindness, this is the season of goodwill!
Dear Editor
It is IMPOSSIBLE to get one small victory against the COCT, the most inflexible institution out there. This matter has so many solutions and benefits available:
1. Appoint Clayton as official caretaker of the premise as part of the EPWP incentive;
2. Provide him with tools and plants to beautify the area and uphold set standards;
3. The monthly stipend will help him avoid scavenging;
4. Enter into contract re. visual cleanliness protocols to be maintained;
5. Standardise his security and safety obligations and responsibilities;
6. Provide or have donation drive for two kennels for Aisha and Mango;
7. Do regular inspections to monitor compliance.
Why is Minister Gayton McKenzie silent about this urgent inhumane action about to be enforced by his counterparts? Isn't Clayton's attempts part of Arts & Culture?
However, COCT will always win against their taxpayers, and to hell with us less affluent and lower income individuals. Speaking from painful, expensive experience.
Dear Editor
Reading this article brought me to shed a tear 😢 People should show more compassion and understanding towards others. A dog 🐶 is a good friend and loves unconditionally. Leave Clayton alone. At least make a more reasonable suggestion to him. My dog passed on and it’s heartbreaking.
Dear Editor
Please help this beautiful person! He needs his support animals, just as we have animals to strengthen our quality of life. Animals bring more meaning to life for us. Please come up with a solution that allows his furry friends to join him. Life is what we make of it, not about the losses we face along the way.
Dear Editor
He calls them his children and it can be seen in how well cared for the dogs look. He hasn't been a menace to the public, so why uproot him after so many years?
No man, leave the man alone! There are so many hurting people out there, why add to his already dismal circumstances?
Dear Editor
He is an asset to the park. Who is going to keep the toilets sparkling clean? Lock them up, I bet, like the toilets at the park in Tamboerskloof? People will defecate in driveways and on the streets! Think before you act.
Dear Editor
He and his beloved well-mannered dogs contribute towards a more safe environment.
Life is short and should be well lived. Why not embrace his good intentions?
Thank you.
Dear Editor
I hope that the eviction of Clayton and his family (his dogs are his children) does not take place.
After 13 years, this park is his home. It provides him with health in its entirety, as defined by the World Health Organization.
Article 25 of the Human Rights Declaration includes a clause about "other necessities", and having a pet could be a need for him, considering his family history. These dogs look happy and well-fed; even the SPCA would have no reason to separate them.
They should leave Clayton with his dogs so that he can continue to be himself. The family looks happy.
Dear Editor
As a young child, I can say that the City of Cape Town is wrong, bra. Like, he’s been living there for more than a decade. The doggies look fine and nicely groomed.
Does the government just want us to live in misery or what?
Dear Editor
Jan van Riebeeck High School would never kick out a senior due to financial constraints. If Clayton met the minimum requirements, he would've qualified for a bursary. Clayton did not look after his mom, she had to provide for him. His space is indeed an eyesore and visitors avoid going near the ever expanding area that he claims.
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