Cold spell drives homeless in Durban underground

In search of warmth, the homeless in Durban have resorted to sleeping in storm-water drains to escape the bitter cold. Picture: Doctor Ngcobo/African News Agency (ANA)

In search of warmth, the homeless in Durban have resorted to sleeping in storm-water drains to escape the bitter cold. Picture: Doctor Ngcobo/African News Agency (ANA)

Published Sep 27, 2019

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Durban - The cold snap has forcing the homeless underground in a bid to find warmth in Durban and the surrounding areas. Apart from seeking refuge in parks and under bridges, they have also resorted to sleeping in storm-water drains.

An activist said the homeless living and sleeping underground was a sign of desperation.

The chairperson of the eThekwini task team on homelessness, Raymond Perrier, said homeless people previously used storm-water pipes to store their meagre belongings,

“It’s the only place where they feel it’s safe to keep their important belongings. Sleeping and living under there can’t be comfortable, but they’ve run out of options and are desperate for help. But as we are entering the rainy season, their lives are in danger and they could get washed away or even drown,” Perrier warned.

“The task team had a meeting on Tuesday and they’re working on a proposal to the city to allocate an area or a park for the homeless to sleep in.

“It’s not an approved idea, but we want to try to get them a safe place so that they’ll not be running from the police and sleep in pipes. We want the city to relax the by-laws in that area, and we’ll allocate security guards to guard it to ensure they occupy the designated park from around 7pm to 7am the next day,” he said.

One homeless man, 32-year-old Sbu, said he had been on the streets for over 10 years. He lives on the Berea.

“We have a problem with security guards who attack us and force us to move from the places where we sleep.

“I sleep under a tree and I try not to get into trouble, but sometimes the guards and police don’t care whether you are troublesome or just a person trying to survive. I’ve seen some of the brothers in this area living underground. They say it’s warmer and safer from being troubled by the police.

“During the day the road absorbs the heat and later at night it’s much warmer down there,” he said.

Daily News

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