Mapping homelessness and the battle to bring people in from the mean streets of Jozi

The vision is clear: a Jozi where homelessness is rare, brief and doesn’t recur. The reality is quite different. There are thousands of people living homeless across the city, mainly men, mainly South African migrants from other parts of the country, and most have been on the streets for more than a year.

“Homelessness is a big, complex space, and we need to deal with the issues from within,” says lawyer and social justice activist Nyeleti Magadze, who recently took over Jozi My Jozi’s social workstream.

Section 26 of our Constitution enshrines the right of everyone to adequate housing. And as Magadze says: “We need to start from the inside, working with the people and for the people.”

Last year, Jozi My Jozi and its partners undertook the city’s first standalone homeless point-in-time count (PITC). A PITC is a single-night survey to gather data about homelessness in a specific area to try to understand the reasons and develop a strategy to cope with them.

It’s a collaborative way to take ownership of the problem – rather than punitive policing – and a PITC maps out the hotspots and identifies the complex problems that keep people on the streets.

Last August’s groundbreaking pilot count recorded 1,146 individuals observed sleeping or living on the streets, with an additional 960 people reported through interviews and group estimates, representing an estimated 2,100 people experiencing homelessness across pilot areas including the CBD, Hillbrow, Linden and surrounding corridors.

What emerged was not just data, but a deeper understanding: homelessness in Jozi is widespread but uneven, with clear concentrations near transport hubs, commercial nodes and derelict buildings.

Hillbrow re­­corded the largest visible population with 364, followed by areas including Marshalltown, Ferreirasdorp and New­town.

“One of our main priorities this year,” says Magadze, “is to do another PITC for homelessness. The last count was in winter. This one will be in summer, and the data may reveal different patterns, since homeless people migrate – they move around. We need to learn from the previous count and increase our footprint. We need to improve our questions and interventions.”

Taking the time

Trust is important, says Magadze.

“We need to engage with communities, and people who have had lived experience. We can’t set the pace or the actual journey, but we can guide people by creating pathways out of homelessness.

“These types of engagements require time and patience. The solutions are long-term in nature and there needs to be humility and empathy. Homelessness is not a crime. We need to tackle the perception that homeless people are lazy or indolent.”

Magadze says that it is not just about people experiencing homelessness, but also the vulnerable and marginalised, including elderly people and orphans, women and children living in hijacked buildings.

She also believes that the private sector, civil society, NGOs, the City and the government need to align. “The City might be able to open shelters, for example, but they may not have the resources to run those shelters.”

The solutions to homelessness are also complex – requiring resources that may range from mental healthcare and drug rehabilitation, to skills empowerment and safe spaces. These are daytime spaces that offer things like showers, food and skills training, but not accommodation.

Originally from Limpopo, Magadze has had a career that’s taken her from law to business, from working with the Airports Company South Africa to Hollard to Business Leadership SA and the Gordon Institute of Business Science.

She has also been a tour guide at Constitution Hill for corporates looking to shift perception about the way they do business.

“The Constitution in action,” she says, “is my ‘why’.” DM

Bridget Hilton-Barber is a freelance writer who writes for Jozi My Jozi.

This story first appeared in our weekly DM168 newspaper, available countrywide for R35.