Concerns brew as homeless shelter rumored to close
Alarm bells go off as the shelter is rumored to close this month.
HUNDREDS of people could land up on the streets as a homeless shelter is rumored to close at the end of the month. The shelter, situated on Sylvester Ntuli Road, is home to 248 people says director of the Denis Hurley Centre (DHC), Raymond Perrier.
Shelters like this one were set up by the eThekwini Municipality in March 2020, ahead of the Covid-19 lockdown, to accommodate the City’s homeless population. In April 2020, Berea Mail reported that 1 200 homeless people were bussed to 10 shelters around the city, including Moses Mabhida Stadium, Durban Jewish Club outer field, Denis Hurley Centre, YMCA, Strollers and Albert Park.
The shelter on Sylvester Ntuli Road was among those that remained open in 2022.
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Now, Perrier says hundreds of people could be cast back onto the Durban streets. While it is unclear how many shelters are set to close their doors, Perrier said there are about 100 women living in the Strollers shelter and 204 people at a Block AK shelter, in addition to the 248 people living at the Sylvester Ntuli Road shelter.
“It’s outrageous that 552 people could now be looking for somewhere to sleep in shop doorways, in parks and on the beachfront. This is bad for them, this is bad for Durban residents and this is bad for the image of Durban. The eThekwini Municipality must urgently commit to maintaining the desperately needed free sleeping spaces or develop an alternative,” said Perrier.
Perrier said DHC was informed of the closure by a resident living at the Sylvester Ntuli Road shelter. Speaking to Berea Mail, Zibufele Hlongwane said he was living at the shelter and has since returned to his family home on Tuesday.
“On Monday, we were in a meeting with the municipality when they said the site will be closing because it was set up for Covid-19. My questions is, where will people go? People have been staying at this site for three years and will be back on the streets at the end of the month,” said Hlongwane.
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Returning home is not an option for everyone, said Hlongwane who was reunited with his family through the assistance of a social worker.
“My main concern is that people have nowhere to go – they can’t go back to the streets after changing their lives. I have gone back to my family because I cannot be back on the streets. Social workers have been working with my family, and I have been accepted back,” he said.
Berea Mail reached out to eThekwini Municipality for comment, but the City was not available for comment at the time this article was published.
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