Homelessness and vagrancy has long been a concern in Central Gqeberha, and while security operatives in the area believe they are slowly winning the fight, certain properties continue to be a thorn in their side. (Photo: Riaan Marais) 
For months, a small community of homeless people has lived on the pavement outside the Newton Park library in Nelson Mandela Bay. Some of them have been in the area for years, moving from one spot to another when they are requested, ordered or forced to find a new place to live.
Most of them have families in the gang-ridden suburbs of the northern areas of Gqeberha, but choose to live on the street in one of the city’s business hubs. In Newton Park, they say there are more opportunities to make money and, believe it or not, it is safer than their homes.
But this community’s numbers have dwindled over the past week, many of them seeking shelter elsewhere, following a violent incident, alleged to be a vigilante attack, which resulted in a man dying in hospital after a brutal beating.
When Daily Maverick visited the area on Friday, 12 September, a man, who was sitting on the pavement with his back to the library fence, groaned in pain when he tried to stand up.
Identifying himself only as Jack, the man, who had visible bruising on his face, was one of the victims of a violent attack on 7 September.
According to reports from Atlas Security and the police, two vehicles, one of them a bakkie, arrived at the makeshift campsite in Fourth Avenue at around 2pm last Sunday. Five of the men who lived there were forced into the bakkie before it drove off towards Motherwell.
“It is alleged that five homeless men were kidnapped by about six males who arrived in Fourth Avenue in a Ford Ranger and a VW Polo,” police spokesperson Captain André Beetge said. It is further alleged that one of the men managed to open the canopy and jump out of the moving bakkie as it travelled along the N2.
“The remaining four victims were taken to an unknown warehouse where the kidnappers allegedly severely beat them using sjamboks.”
The alleged kidnappers accused the victims of breaking into a house in Newton Park. The police report further states that during the assault, another victim was brought to the warehouse by more kidnappers. He was also badly beaten to the point where he lost consciousness.
The victims were subsequently loaded back into the vehicles and dropped off at a remote location along Daniel Pienaar Road, near Motherwell. It is believed that remaining members of the community approached Atlas Security operatives to report the incident. The security teams, along with police, investigated the incident and responded to the location where the victims were dropped off.
Beetge said the victims were rushed to hospital where one man, in his 20s, died of his injuries.
“Detectives from Mount Road and Motherwell police stations are investigating cases of murder, kidnapping and assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm,”Beetge said.
“F--k off,” was the short response from Jack when asked about the incident. “Even if I wanted to tell you, they would just come back and beat me again. But I don’t want to talk about it, so f--k off.” Jack was one of the men allegedly assaulted.
Another woman sitting nearby said this was not the first time some of their “neighbours” had been taken away and beaten or assaulted on the street.
“There are a handful of us that have stayed in the area for years. We don’t get involved in crime, because we don’t want trouble with the residents. But then there are guys that just stay here for a few days. They steal, break in, do drugs, and then they leave. Then we have to answer for their crimes.”
She said they did not know the true identity of the man who had died in hospital. They only knew him by sight from another homeless community in the area. This incident is a symptom of a broader problem in Nelson Mandela Bay – the ever-growing number of people living on the streets.
During a municipal safety and security committee meeting in July 2019, councillor Gustav Rautenbach raised the question of a joint intervention strategy to address the issue of homelessness and vagrancy in Gqeberha and surrounds.
Read more: No-holds-barred account of lives of the homeless is an ‘awakening of our social conscience’
In September 2023, he raised the issue again, and municipal officials responded with official figures from two separate periods: 2018–2021 and 2022–2023.
According to the report, the municipality documented 183 homeless people over the first period and 129 in the latter. The numbers came with a footnote that the real figure should actually be about 200 higher as many people refused to be profiled. Rautenbach rejected the figures, stating that the numbers were woefully inaccurate and did not give a true reflection of how big the issue of homelessness truly was.
A private social worker, Angelique Fraser, is part of a network of organisations looking for ways to address the broader symptoms of homelessness across the city. Among the services they try to provide is assisting the homeless to apply for official identification documents.
Through the network, she met with the Bay Socio-Economic Community Initiative (BaySec), a not-for-profit company run by Alfred Ferreira. Ferreira, who works closely and extensively with the homeless in Gqeberha, scoffed at the figures in the municipality’s 2023 report.
“We do a lot of work with vagrants across Summerstrand, Humewood, Central, Walmer and Newton Park, and in those five wards alone there are in excess of 1,000 homeless people.
“We work on the ground with these people and other organisations that work with them, and a more accurate figure for the entire city would be much closer to 4,500 homeless people,” Ferreira said.
Long-standing concern
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Homeless-2.jpg "Abandoned buildings in Central Gqeberha. (Photo: Riaan Marais)")
style="font-weight: 400;">been a long-standing concern, as abandoned and dilapidated buildings attract those without accommodation and quickly become unsightly slums that degrade the broader area and have an impact on crime and property value.
Private security firm CityWide has made some inroads and many of their operatives carry out dedicated patrols in the area, sometimes clearing out those who illegally occupy abandoned buildings.
CityWide director Stephen Moore said the number of vagrants in Central Gqeberha has steadily reduced in recent months, but a handful of properties, with absent landlords, continue to pose problems.
He singled out an old apartment block, Clifton Mansions, ironically located on Hope Street. This building has been abandoned for some time, and despite its having been bricked up on several occasions, CityWide operatives continuously remove unwelcome shelter seekers.
He said they have found signs of drug use and evidence of theft and other crimes, as culprits would frequent the building to stash or split their loot.
Challenges
Ferreira said the homeless can be divided into four main categories, each with its own set of challenges and potential solutions.
- People with substance abuse problems who need effective rehabilitation and healthcare to keep them off the streets;
- People with mental health disorders who are in need of psychological or psychiatric help;
- Criminal elements who cause problems for the broader community and need to be jailed for rehabilitation; and
- People who are homeless after losing their jobs, falling on hard times and losing their homes.
Ferreira said these categories often overlap, and people find themselves moving between categories the longer they stay on the street. Some are forced into crime and drugs, and drug use often leads to mental health disorders.
Read more: Over 200 volunteers unite for Joburg’s groundbreaking homelessness point-in-time count
“Many people believe homeless shelters will solve the problem, but that is certainly not the case. Shelters are only effective for the genuinely homeless, who need a place to stay until they get back on their feet.
“The other categories will not benefit from shelters, and chances are they will cause more harm than good. They need to be taken to the appropriate facility for their individual needs,” Ferreira said. DM