According to the City of Joburg, 190 homeless persons have been reunited with their families in Johannesburg in the past 12 months.
Building shelters for the homeless, asking families to accommodate their relatives, strengthening data management systems, upskilling those in shelters, and helping them become self-sustaining are among the strategies used by the country’s major cities to reduce homelessness.
The 2022 Census shows that at least 55,719 individuals are homeless; however, organisations such as the National Homeless Network dispute this figure, arguing that it could be much higher.
In the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality and the City of Joburg, there have been calls for families to accept their homeless relatives. The City of Cape Town is also making efforts to reunite homeless people with their families.
Nthatisi Modingoane, spokesperson for the City of Joburg, said the StatsSA census of 2022 showed that there are a total of 8,800 homeless persons living in the city, and they are targeting at least 7,000 street homeless persons.
