Skeletons at the feast: A review of street homelessness in South Africa and other world regions

Abstract

Homelessness on the streets has been of concern to governments and civil society for hundreds of years, and the number of homeless tends to rise when economic conditions take an adverse turn. Laying stress on questions of access to housing, livelihoods and services, this paper compares the historical causes of homelessness in Britain and Europe, India, the US and South Africa, in order to approach a better understanding of South Africa's own homelessness situation. Internationally, the key debate is whether homelessness is due to simple lack of affordable housing, or to a range of complex factors involving poverty and unemployment. The paper argues that spatial access to street livelihoods and access to the metro core zones are critical factors linking housing access to poverty economics, and it questions whether in South Africa's situation street homelessness can be eliminated in the foreseeable future.

Keywords:

• homelessness
• street people
• shack settlements
• government policy
• poverty
• housing delivery
• Britain
• Europe
• India
• United States
• South Africa

Acknowledgements

This work forms part of the Human Sciences Research Council's 2005–2008 study of homelessness. Funding from the National Department of Social Development, the HSRC, the Gauteng Department of Social Development and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation is gratefully acknowledged.