Homelessness on the increase, but affects fewer than 1%: Stats SA

Stats SA has for the first time released a thematic report on homelessness in South Africa, based on census data.

The report, published on Wednesday, profiles the prevalence of homelessness in the past three decades, socio-demographic characteristics of homeless people and causes of homelessness.

Stats SA said the information on the extent of homelessness, who is at risk in terms of age and sex and location was critical in promoting evidence based decision-making and policy formulation aimed at addressing the problem.

The findings showed that the prevalence of homelessness was less than 1%, estimated at 0.09% nationally. 

In the past three decades, there has been an upward trend in homelessness. The number of homeless people increased from 13,135 in 1996 to 55,719 in 2022, with Gauteng recording the most (46%) followed by Western Cape (18%).

Homelessness was more prevalent in metropolitan areas compared with non-metropolitan areas (74.1% and 25.9% respectively). Of the eight metropolitan areas, Tshwane recorded the most homeless people (18.1%), followed by Johannesburg (15.6%). The Nelson Mandela Bay metropolitan area recorded the lowest (2.7%).

Homeless people were categorised into two groups, those who lived on the streets — also termed roofless — and those who were in shelters. The results showed that seven in 10 homeless people were roofless (70.8%) compared with those in shelters.

The demographic profile of homeless people showed that they were predominantly males (70.1%), the share of the youth and adults was about 44% and 45% respectively, while children and the elderly constituted relatively smaller proportions at 5% and 7% respectively. 

Population group variations show that homelessness was more prevalent among black Africans (76.7%) compared with other population groups. It was also noticed that the majority of homeless people were unmarried (84.5%).

Migration patterns showed Gauteng as the primary destination for both internal and international migrants, with Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo as the top countries of origin for homeless foreign nationals.

The findings further revealed that the causes of homelessness were mainly economic reasons such as unemployment and lack of income, family matters (disputes, death and dissolution) and alcohol and drug abuse.

The majority of women (78.4%) cited economic reasons, well above the national average of 62.5%.

Statistician-general Risenga Maluleke said the findings suggested that for interventions on addressing homelessness to be effective, the focus must be on creating jobs, income-generating initiatives and ensuring equal access to housing.

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