Durban - Homeless people ended up living on the streets of Durban or in shelters because they came to the city searching for jobs, had left their homes because of family arguments, had substance abuse problems or had nowhere else to go.
This is according to a study, conducted by the Human Sciences Research Council and funded by the eThekwini Municipality, which was released on Wednesday.
The study aimed to understand homelessness and to find out the causes and needs of those who live on the street, or in shelters, in the Durban CBD and surrounding areas.
It differentiated between those groups.
It found that there were a total of 3 933 people were living on the street or in shelters in Durban in February this year.
Of this population, 50% were on the street, in parks or other places outside, with the remaining 50% could found be in formal shelters.
The study found that there were several factors that led to their plight and the common theme was unemployment and poverty.
“For some, moving to the streets was a consequence of their dire financial circumstances, while for others, the city was perceived as an opportune place to secure a job.
“Although the city offered some financial relief to people trading on the streets, many of the participants’ searches for jobs had been unsuccessful, even for those who had relevant skills and experience,” the study said.
According to the study, most of the Durban’s homeless, on the streets and in shelters, are from KZN, with most from within the municipality. Only a small portion were foreign nationals.
The three main sources of income for both groups were “begging, hustling and short-term jobs like car-guarding”.
Many of the study participants raised concerns about their safety and reported harassment and stigmatisation on the streets, as well as harassment from the police.
Raymond Perrier, the director of the Denis Hurley Centre, which runs feeding schemes for the homeless, said the centre had been directly involved with the survey.
He said that owing to the study the Durban Homeless Forum had been formed and now held meetings every four to six weeks to come up with initiatives to reintegrate the homeless back into society and stop others from becoming homeless.
Perrier agreed with the study’s findings that there were a number of reasons why people ended up homeless and initiatives had to be adopted to deal with the issue holistically.
Most homeless people the centre worked with wanted to be reintegrated into society and were not looking for a handout, he said.
“Most are looking for employment, so that is one of the challenges we are dealing with, because it’s harder for the homeless to find work. It is harder for the homeless to look clean and presentable and get to interviews on time.”
More than 70% of the study participants said employment would help them get out of their living predicament.
Perrier said another problem was that while some homeless people had existing problems of substance abuse, many were drawn into drugs due to living on the streets and in shelters.
The Mercury