In the shadow of World Day of Social Justice, which fell on Wednesday, the stark reality faced by homeless individuals in Durban highlights critical issues of access, support, and systemic change.
As the city grapples with homelessness, non-profit organisations advocating for the people living on the street call for reform to address the needs of the most vulnerable in society.
Raymond Perrier, director of the Denis Hurly Centre, a non-profit organisation that works with the poorest people of all faiths in central Durban, said the marginalised communities that the centre serves, especially the homeless, suffer disproportionately due to a lack of access even to services that are already limited.
“An example of that is the emergency grant that was introduced during Covid, which was available to everybody, theoretically. To access that grant, you had to have a smartphone,” he said.
Perrier believes that social justice is honoured in theory but not in practice.
“The government can say we care about justice and we’re providing grants to everybody who needs them and then intentionally creates a system which they know will not work for the majority who actually need to access that grant,” he said.
Barriers to government support for the homeless
Government subsidies are promised to vulnerable groups like the elderly and disabled, but accessing these funds is challenging, especially for those without homes or advocates to support them.
Perrier examined the 27 rights protected by the Bill of Rights in the Constitution. Through discussions with homeless individuals and by observing their experiences, he explored the extent to which homeless people enjoy these rights in comparison to others.
For example, he said the Constitution guarantees the right to housing, yet most people are unable to obtain social housing.
He raised questions about the prioritisation of housing allocation: “Are the poor and homeless placed lower on the waiting list than others?”
According to his findings, Perrier said while four of the 27 rights were enjoyed by all South Africans, including freedom of religion, belief and opinion, freedom of association, language and culture, the other 23 rights were not afforded to these individuals due to their economic status.
“So just because they are poor, they can’t access them,” he said.
Government inaction: A double-edged sword
Perrier said there are rights that are infringed upon because of government inactions, when the government fails to do things that will enable someone to access those rights.
Then there are rights that homeless people are deprived of because of the government’s actions, he said.
An example of that is the government spending money on law enforcement to forcibly remove people from sleeping on the streets, infringing their rights to safety and their rights to a fair trial.
Perrier noted that government inaction can infringe upon rights by failing to provide access to them, while government action can also deprive people of rights, for example, when law enforcement uses force to deter homeless people from sleeping on the streets, violating their rights to safety and a fair trial.
The crucial role of identification
Empowerment manager, Stuart Talbot, said the biggest issue facing homeless people is getting and keeping their IDs. “The most important thing to homeless people is their IDs.”
He stated that over the period of several years, the centre has assisted over 1 200 individuals in obtaining IDs and has paid for between 700 and 1 000 of them.
“Last year, we had 691 queries over the course of the year regarding Social Relief of Distress (SRD) R350 grants, and according to our stats, we helped 155 people get new grants by either registering for the first time or they had to re-register because the grant system changed,” said Talbot.
He emphasised that without an ID, individuals cannot access grants, healthcare, education, or employment. “What I have seen is that a lot of institutions and employers will not accept a certified copy as a valid ID.”
He mentioned that while they have helped many people get their IDs, funding is limited depending on donations.
“Last year up until June, we were using a funding pot to help people get IDs. That ended in June, and at this time, there were 251 people in the process being assisted, and we had successfully paid for 155,” he said, adding that this pot would need to be replenished in order to assist more people.
Navigating the digital divide for services
The implementation of the new Home Affairs digital booking system has made it harder for people without internet access to get appointments, stated Talbot.
Talbot said the online booking system only allows 70 people per day to book, making it difficult for those without internet access to get a booking.
An issue with the system, he discovered, is that people are not able to choose which Home Affairs branch to go to, and out of desperation, they may have to take an appointment at the Winklespruit branch, which is more than 20km out of the city.
He said this then necessitates finding money for train fare, travelling to Winklespruit, and waiting in a queue, with the risk of missing the appointment despite their efforts.
According to Talbot, the centre has started keeping IDs with the permission of the holders to keep them safe or until they are able to make a certified copy.
However, he conceded that “it’s very difficult to convince people that their IDs are safer with the centre rather than where they are hiding them.”
He said the centre also helps homeless people with political, digital, and social identity and encourages them to vote and be involved in national conversations around homelessness.
Talbot appealed for law enforcement not to get rid of IDs during raids or other activities involving homeless people.
“When dealing with IDs, it should be theoretically illegal for police to take away IDs from homeless people, but very often when they do their raids, they just pick up all the belongings and throw them away,” he said.
Overcoming the stigma of homelessness
People living on the street are normal South Africans who do not need anything more than anyone else, stated Talbot.
“The biggest problem is helping them believe that they are okay. They have a right to a space in society and help society understand that not every homeless person is a bad person or a criminal,” he said.
As the first point of call for people living on the streets at the centre, Simphiwe Khoza explained that a lot of difficulties homeless people experience are centred around the stigma of being homeless.
“Already your appearance says a lot about where you come from. So these people are not working firstly, but they also need IDs to find a job,” he said.
Khoza believes that based on the services that the centre provides its beneficiaries, it is meeting the government halfway.
“They should also be meeting us halfway. But you find that when we help our guys with filling out forms for IDs, there’s even difficulties at Home Affairs. I’m not saying they should be given special privileges.
“However, there should be some kind of leeway because people are homeless and paying for these IDs to try and get themselves off the streets,” he said.
Khoza added that the South African Social Security Agency’s (Sassa) slow response to their emails limits their ability to quickly help clients.
“Sometimes they help, sometimes they delay, and sometimes they make excuses.”
He said many of their clients are not good at exercising patience when dealing with the IDs and SRD grants.
According to Khoza, when there are delays or issues with these processes, the centre’s clients go through all kinds of emotions.
“Patience at times is a bit of a problem for someone who is desperate to get off the streets,” he stated.
He suggested that Home Affairs and Sassa send an official once a month to help their clients.
“The least they can do is meet us halfway, but if they’re not coming to us or approaching us, they’re always expecting to get, then it means they are not for the people,” he asserted.
Access to healthcare: A critical challenge
Sr Thobile Mthembu, the centre’s clinic co-ordinator, said a challenge for the patients she treats is access to healthcare, with most of them being on chronic medications like HIV and TB medication.
One issue that arises is that some people may have been initiated on the database in the area they come from, and when they arrive here, they need a transfer letter to access healthcare, she said.
She noted that government healthcare facilities are not able to trace these homeless patients to keep them up to date with appointments and medication.
“The reason why they would rather go to Denis Hurly is because we know how to handle them. We know where their hotspots are and go and trace them and try and get them back on treatment,” she said.
Mthembu said some healthcare facilities turn homeless people away.
“The homeless will just say I went to a clinic and this is what I wanted, and I was denied access just because I’m homeless. They feel that they are being discriminated against,” she said.
She further explained that another issue that she deals with is the fact that sometimes the clinic at the centre does not have the correct level of experience to treat some patients.
“We will take the patient to the hospital; we have our own mobile van. The problem with our patients is that they don’t have patience. Addington is full, so they don’t prioritise them. So the same person that we sent with a stab wound or whatever we can’t handle will come back to us the following day and tell us that they were not helped at the hospital,” said Mthembu.
Mthembu said healthcare workers took an oath to treat everyone equally, and they need to understand that homeless people are human beings. “We don’t discriminate with colour, whether you are dirty or whatever, so they need to be reminded that they are still human beings who need assistance.”
She also noted that some healthcare workers believe all homeless people are criminals. “They really need to be sensitive because while some of our clients steal and people are not comfortable around them, this only applies to certain people and not all homeless people,” she stated.
The plight of street children in Durban
Anne Slatter, who is the general manager of iCare, an organisation that helps street children in Durban, said the leading social justice issue she has experienced is that the access to basic needs is almost non-existent for children under 18 living on the streets.
“They cannot book themselves into a shelter, gain access to ablution facilities, seek medical help easily, apply for IDs, and late birth registrations. In a city that does not cater for the homeless in general, the children suffer too,” she said.
Slatter said iCare steps in to address most of these issues, including rehabilitation from the streets, addictions, and safe housing or reunification potential.
“The desire of most kids is to belong to a family and be educated. We strive to do both those. When we eventually take them off the streets and place them into our Rehab and Restoration Centre, having a bed, ablutions, food, care, and the hope of the return to education means so much to each child,” she said.
She stated that iCare has physical resources and financial needs. “We feed approximately 70 direct beneficiaries per month and 49 indirect beneficiaries. So food and clothing are required, and we have overhead costs to run each project, and our budget is R460 000 per month. Support us by not giving children money but giving them a future – donate to iCare.”