Homelessness in Durban is rooted in joblessness. A homeless person, a church volunteer and a veteran clergyman at a Reconciliation Day lunch at Durban’s Denis Hurley Centre on Friday spoke to The Independent on Saturday.
Roman Catholic Church volunteer Girlie Allen said that when people did not have jobs they often ended up on the streets taking drugs and drinking.
“They look for work but there is none so what do they do? The core thing is jobs,” she said.
Allen added that homelessness in Durban had become worse in the 14 years she had been a volunteer.
“When I started in 2002 there were just (homeless) children. Now it’s older people – more and more of them.”
Father John Paterson, a 94-year-old Catholic priest, said homelessness and hunger had been a problem throughout his career.
“Apart from employing people and paying them, we are always going to have this problem,” he said.
Jerome Joseph, 31, who lives in a shelter “when I have the R35”, agreed.
Sporting severe scars on his head, and speaking slowly, he described how his life changed when he was attacked by a gang of 13, left for dead. He spent six months in a coma and more than four years in hospital.
When he makes enough money selling fruit, he can sleep under a roof. Otherwise he’s on the street.
“What is the government doing about poverty and hunger?” he asked. “Even people who go to school get their matrics and then sit at home jobless, so they end up doing crime. It is also why many end up on the streets.”
The eThekwini Municipality said joblessness was behind the homelessness and quoting a recent study. “It found that most people ended up on the street after coming to the city in search of employment but were unable to find jobs.
“Other common reasons were family-related issues, including family disagreements and the death of close family members.”
The study found there were nearly 4 000 people living on the streets and in shelters in the central Durban area, of which 85 percent were male. Most were between 25 and 34 years old.
More than half the people interviewed originated from KwaZulu-Natal, most often Durban.
At the lunch, homeless people rubbed shoulders with people living comfortably – Hindus with Jews, Muslims with Christians, blacks and whites, able-bodied and disabled people.
On the menu was a Christian breyani, a Hindu breyani and a Muslim breyani incorporating a vegetarian dish and one that was halaal. Dessert consisted of a spread of cakes.
Grace took the form of enthusiastic singing of the national anthem and singers entertained the lunch-goers with Christmas carols and other songs.
Everybody made three impromptu Christmas cards to offer one another on coloured pieces of paper set on each table.
A man who gave his name only as Leonard said the lunch was a special treat at a special place.
He said he went to the centre once a week from Ntuzuma for his only proper meal.
“The rest of the days I just go around eating whatever I can find,” said Leonard.
Organiser Raymond Perrier said he understood there were no easy answers for people, such as business owners, who ran into problems with the homeless on the streets.
“Our approach with businesses has been to find ways to turn the homeless from being part of the problem to being part of the solution,” he said.