Homeless individuals, families and communities: The societal origins of homelessness

Abstract

This article uses case histories to document the experiences of 30 homeless people from a range of backgrounds in Pretoria and Rustenburg, South Africa. Factors that contributed to their becoming homeless were poverty, unemployment, a lack of affordable accommodation, divorce, disability, illness and an underprivileged childhood. More than one-half of the interviewees reported growing up in dysfunctional families. There was evidence of solidarity among homeless people, especially those living in shelters, and there were informal networks for identifying job opportunities. Many of the interviewees hoped to improve their circumstances by finding affordable accommodation or some form of employment or receiving a state grant.

Keywords:

• family
• community
• homelessness
• social networks
• origins of homelessness

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 Human Sciences Research Council, the Gauteng Department of Social Development and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation is gratefully acknowledged. The authors wish to acknowledge important comments from two anonymous reviewers, and to thank Professor John Seager and Johan Erasmus for valuable input during the early stages of this paper.

Notes

¹Unemployed persons are those (aged 15–64 years) who were not employed in the reference week, who actively looked for work or tried to start a business in the four weeks preceding the survey interview, and who would have been able to start work or would have started a business in the reference week. www.statssa.gov.za/qlfs/docs/Quarterly_Labour_Force_Survey_Guide.pdf p.25 Accessed 31 October 2009.

²Guarding cars at shopping centres and outside restaurants and hotels is a common form of casual labour in South Africa.