Durban - Durban has seen an increase in homelessness which has resulted in high numbers of crimes and beggars.
This was highlighted by the eThekwini Municipality and the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry at a media briefing this week, ahead of World Homeless Day which would be observed tomorrow, Monday.
Mayor Mxolisi Kaunda said like any other city in the world, the municipality was also dealing with the problem.
“Our intervention seeks to curb, among other challenges, the unfortunate habit of destroying our infrastructure with an intention of selling our assets for survival.
Because of the magnitude of this behaviour, we have instructed the head of Metro Police through the city manager to embark on an aggressive law enforcement operation to root out this behaviour. Consequence management will be implemented if this situation does not improve,” he said.
Raymond Perrier, director of the Denis Hurley Centre, a non-profit organisation, which has been feeding homeless people in Durban since 2015 said the issue of homelessness would continue to increase since the municipality does not have sustainable solutions. According to Perrier, the city has done every little bit to help the growing number of people who end up on the streets of Durban.
He said this was due to the city’s intentions of creating data instead of finding solutions to resolve the issue. “The Denis Hurley now feeds 40% more people since the beginning of this year. The good thing that had come out of the project was the women’s shelter that was created during the lockdown and two other camps.
So, there are about 500 people who sleep in these municipal shelters. However, the problem starts when the city is obsessed with creating data rather than creating solutions for these people. “During the lockdown, a lot of people who came to the centre to collect their meals were registered for identity documents by the Department of Home Affairs.
However, out of a hundred that were registered only 20 IDs came back. This clearly shows that the data implementation will never work at this stage,” he added. Linda Morrison, managing director of We Are Durban, a non-profit organisation that has worked with the city since the Covid-19 pandemic said they received many requests for help.
She said since 2020, Durban has seen a major crisis each year which has affected everyone, but most of all those living hand-to-mouth. “The first crisis was the lockdown. Many were vaguely prepared for it to last three weeks, but naively believed life would go back to normal after that, and it didn’t.
Those who got paid per day or per hour were hard hit in that time and if they did not have savings then that was the end of the road for them,” she said. Morrison said the July riots had also contributed to the growing number of homeless people. “The riots resulted in further businesses shutting and further job losses last year,” said Morrison.
SUNDAY TRIBUNE