Joburg to open two new shelters to deal with 'crisis' of homelessness

The City of Johannesburg hopes to open two shelters before the year ends to deal with homelessness in the city.  

Alan Grobler from the city's displaced persons unit estimated the number of homeless people to be more than 5,500.  

“It is a crisis - more so because of the reluctance of making use of these facilities. We have people who come and never return and some who do not come at all, for different reasons. We hope to open fully functional shelters by December and the ultimate goal is to have one shelter in every region," said Grobler. 

The shelters are expected to be opened in Florida and Windsor. They will be extensions of an existing overnight shelter in Hillbrow, which accommodates 150 people.  

Psycho-social treatment, food and facilities for sleeping, bathing and laundry are some of the services that will be provided at the shelters.

Grobler said the city had introduced a new outreach programme, called Safe Spaces,  which sought to encourage homeless people to use the facilities.

Asked why many were reluctant to do so, he said many refused to be controlled. “There are rules and regulations everywhere. In the shelters there are security guards. Whoever comes in gets searched and some refuse to abandon their knives, for example. They are used to controlling themselves," he said.  

With the new programme, Grobler said homeless people would be taken "as they are", but would have to work closely with law enforcement officials.  

Mary Gillet-de Klerk from the Johannesburg Organisation of Services to the Homeless (Josh) said her organisation provided food, counselling and skills to aid chances of employment for more than 300 people on a daily basis. She estimated the number of homeless people in the city to be over 7,500.

She said efforts by the Randburg-based non-profit organisation to start a shelter had been unsuccessful. “The city is hellbent on owning each and every shelter,” she said. 

"Homelessness in the city is really alarming … To tackle it, we need a creative approach from different sectors."

Gillet-de Klerk said people were homeless for various reasons. These include being victims of crime, fake job scams, evictions and retrenchments.