Homelessness in South Africa

At the same time, homeless South Africans indicated that the most important thing the municipality could assist them with was employment and well-located affordable housing.

Mid 19th century, under the colonial rule efforts were made to remove non-white people from white owned property, causing the displacement and a large wandering population looking for work.

[13] Severe housing shortages in 1968 led to overcrowding and people constructed informal illegal settlements throughout the cities.

[13] Homelessness is shaped by social and economic insecurity which is worsened by informal housing and lack of legislation by the government.

[14] Financial pressure put on those living on the street is worsened as they have no ability to accumulate wealth, unlike the shack population.

[17] Post-apartheid, free movement of non-white South Africans into areas that were restricted to them, resulting in not enough employment opportunities available.

[19] Other cities with a significant share of the country's homeless population was Johannesburg (15.6%), Cape Town (11.9%), and eThekwini (10.1%).

[19] Prior to the 2022 census results there was a lack of consensus on the total number of homeless people living on the street.

[citation needed] The Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) state that there is an estimate between 100,000 and 200,000 nationwide living on the streets.

[27] Homelessness in South African cities has been portrayed in art in a controversial piece titled Birds in a Cornfield.