The plight of Durban's homeless: a call for compassionate solutions

AS THE nights become colder in Durban, I notice that more and more people are contacting the Denis Hurley Centre, increasingly conscious of the homeless on our streets and asking how they can help.

- DR RAYMOND PERRIER

That is very positive in a city where sadly many government officials seem much less concerned about the plight of our homeless fellow-citizens. Recently, the municipality has yet again been pursuing a strategy of “cleaning the streets”.

In reality, this means harassing and molesting homeless people so they move from where they are - only for them to pop up in another part of the city. The group that was in Albert Park has now re-emerged in Glenwood. But the group in Albert Park was only there because a few months before they were chased out from the railway lines. The problem is never solved, it is just moved around; and it is made worse because people lose their few belongings, their medicines and their IDs. We know from our clinic team of at least six people who have died as a result of the current strategy.

The positive concern that I see from the general public reminds me of the time during the Covid-19 lockdown, when the people of Durban responded generously to help the homeless. Just one story among many: at the time, I was helping to run a pop-up shelter on the beachfront behind the Elangeni Hotel. One day a young Indian couple drove up to the gate in a smart car. It turned out they were from Grosvenor Court, the apartment complex that overlooked our homeless site. I was ready to respond to what I had expected to be their complaints about bringing down the tone of the neighbourhood. Instead, they had come to find out where they could help and returned the next day with burgers and chips for all our 200 residents.