Vagrants Return Within Hours After eThekwini Clean-Up, Exposing the City’s Struggle to Fix Durban’s Homelessness Crisis

A “sustainable” and “dignified” approach to dealing with vagrants who congregate at certain points around the city has emerged as the dominant call from members of the public, amid growing frustration that city authorities have yet to find a lasting solution.

No sooner had the eThekwini Municipality removed a large group of vagrants who had been camping on the pavement along Che Guevara Road, under the M4 Southern Freeway, on Friday, they returned to the area once police and clean-up teams vacated the scene.

The Daily News reported on the clean-up operation, but readers responded by describing it as a fruitless exercise, noting that the situation had quickly returned to the status quo.

Councillor Andre Beetge, a Democratic Alliance (DA) member of the eThekwini Executive Committee, welcomed the municipality’s long-overdue intervention and acknowledged the relief it would bring to businesses, residents and visitors. However, he expressed concern that the city appeared to have no immediate or sustainable plan in place to address the issue.

“It is difficult to ignore the lingering questions. Why did decisive action only come after the festive season, and more importantly, what is the long-term plan, given that people were back again by Sunday morning?” Beetge asked.

“When we first exposed the scale of the problem and began applying pressure for the City to acknowledge it and act meaningfully, the establishment of the Sakhithemba facility for the homeless in Lower Illovo, south of Amanzimtoti, was presented as a near-panacea — the so-called promised land,” he said.

Looking more broadly, Beetge suggested that the municipality should actively identify suitable land for occupation, including the formalisation of existing informal settlements, where areas could be properly demarcated, infrastructure installed and basic services delivered.

“Buildings donated to the city by the provincial government could be renovated into suitable housing. Likewise, the expropriation of slum-turned and abandoned buildings would restore dignity to vulnerable communities while simultaneously reducing health risks, sanitation challenges and crime-related pressures faced by surrounding areas,” Beetge said.

He added that the challenge was not new, noting that the city employed an entire department tasked with managing homelessness and related challenges.

“The time for smoke and mirrors has come to an end; ratepayers are entitled to demand a meaningful return on that investment,” he said.

Doran Subiah, chairperson of the Umbilo Business Association (UBA), warned that illegal dumping sites would re-emerge and unlawful structures would be rebuilt if the root causes of homelessness were not addressed.

Subiah said the UBA expected the municipality to match businesses’ commitment to cleaning the area with a transparent, long-term plan for Umbilo, including regular maintenance schedules, infrastructure investment, and a dedicated safety and cleanliness partnership.

In October 2025, the municipality held a workshop to assess the effectiveness of existing by-laws in dealing with offences committed by homeless individuals on Durban’s streets. This formed part of the city’s inner-city rejuvenation programme and its homelessness interventions.

In previous media statements, the municipality said the homeless community included individuals struggling with addiction, unemployed foreign nationals, undocumented individuals, and hard sleepers who had lost their residences.

The municipality also announced that Phase 1 of the Sakhithemba Shelter in Illovo, south of Durban, was expected to accommodate up to 800 people upon completion. The facility will be managed by a non-governmental organisation (NGO).

Currently, the municipality operates two safe sleeping sites in Greyville and North Beach, as well as a Harm Reduction Centre at Bellhaven Memorial Hall in Greyville, which offers drug management programmes.

Regarding homelessness interventions, the city previously stated that it had established pathways out of homelessness, including skills development and training, assistance with identity documents, job opportunities, drug rehabilitation and treatment, and family reunification.

The development of the Homelessness Policy through internal consultative processes began in November 2022. A draft policy is now due for external consultation and will be published on the municipal website for public comment.

DAILY NEWS