MUST READ: Newcastle’s hidden society

“Some of us have died here. It is very cold at night and we have nothing to keep us warm.”

Hidden from prying eyes is a community living in shadows, segregated from suburbanites.

Like trolls, this little society lives under a bridge. However, they are not cruel or hideous ghouls.

They are the homeless of Newcastle, a small fraction of people who make do with the minimum resources they have.

Under the bridge in Hardwick Street, metres away from the Oval Track, old mattresses lay scattered. Tattered clothing hangs on a makeshift washing line, as a handful of informal settlers try to keep warm around a fire.

“There are about 15 of us living here, but it isn’t always the same people. Sometimes people leave and others join us,” said one anonymous informal settler.

Surviving the elements is not always easy, and scraping together enough food is often a battle.

“We often look for scrap metal in refuse bags and the bins at the Farmers Hall, because people chuck it away. We then sell it and buy some food with the money if there is enough,” explained a man simply known as John.

The men bathe in the stream running under the bridge.

“It is very cold; sometimes we try to boil water over a fire so we don’t get too cold,” said one man.

What led them to lead a life living under a bridge?

“We all had difficult situations at home, like me, my parents died and I left Utrecht for Newcastle hoping I could find a job. But, I can’t find one,” John dejectedly said.

Other than John, the diverse group of men explained they hailed mostly from Pretoria, Pietermaritzburg, Ladysmith and oSizweni.

Among the men, one elderly man expressed heartache saying he had nothing at all. “I have no home, no family or friends to call for help. I am truly homeless.”

John said while there were a handful of Newcastillians who showed them compassion by occasionally giving them food, their existence was mostly ignored. “Some people are nice to us, some treat us if though we are nothing.”

Describing life on the streets as difficult, all the men agreed they would love to rejoin society, living and working among us.

“Maybe God will send someone to help us one day,” John concluded.