How eThekwini is confronting homelessness: Insights from Mayor Cyril Xaba

eThekwini mayor Cyril Xaba discussed strategies on how to deal with homelessness within the eThekwini municipality when he visited the Denis Hurley Centre (DHC) in Durban on Wednesday. 

The city is facing a crisis with homeless people occupying street corners, parks, beach dunes and on Che Guevara Road, formerly Moore Road, underneath the M4 southern freeway. In the Albert Park vicinity, drug addicts and homeless people have been embroiled in a cat-and-mouse game for more than a decade. When the municipality moves them from one spot, the homeless pick up their meagre belongings and occupy another in the same area. 

The DHC is at the frontline of dealing with homeless people daily. Xaba met with the director of the Denis Hurley Centre, Dr Raymond Perrier, who was often critical about the way the city dealt with the homeless. 

Perrier, the founder of the National Homeless Network, attended the 9th National Homeless Conversation held in Cape Town in November 2025, where collaboration emerged as the key to effective solutions. 

During the meeting, Xaba provided an update on the nearly completed construction of the Sakhithemba homeless shelter in Illovo, south of Durban, which is nearing completion. 

The municipality stated that this shelter would house 800 homeless people who would be trained and upskilled through various programmes. 

“Both parties committed to working together on various initiatives aimed at providing support to the homeless,” Xaba said. 

After the meeting, Xaba interacted with homeless people outside the Emmanuel Cathedral and DHC. Xaba met and interacted with several homeless people during the annual Meal of Reconciliation held at the DHC on December 16.

Perrier said that Xaba was open and approachable, keen to learn and willing to recognise the studies undertaken by the DHC and the network.

Perrier also laid out why the Sakhithemba shelter in Illovo won't work, stating that  Sakhithemba might be a good idea, or it might not, but it cannot work if the very people expected to live there have not been part of shaping it.

He also advised that the municipality should look at how other municipalities were successfully dealing with the homeless. 

“We did not agree on everything during discussions, especially around the Sakhithemba shelter, which we continue to be critical of. We discussed issues around safe and open sleeping spaces in Durban,” he said. 

Perrier also explained the bottlenecks that the DHC sometimes faced in municipal departments. He said one department is helpful while another will undermine the projects and do the opposite to delay them. 

“The homeless are a complex problem that does not have a simple solution. We must understand that not all homeless people are the same. Despite the perception that they are vagrants and 'para’s' the majority of the homeless people are clean and respectable, who are keen to work,” he said. 

Perrier said he was keen on sharing the knowledge and expertise the DHC has on homelessness. He also met with the caucus leader of another political party in eThekwini regarding the homeless situation. 

Perrier stated that, to maintain transparency and avoid political bias, he wrote to several eThekwini caucus leaders, advising them that they could contact DHC for information regarding homelessness.

Perrier also touched on the homeless crisis on Che Guevara Road stating that nothing was achieved with the recent cleanup. He said the situation was created when “you act without understanding the problem”.

 “This has created a lack of trust and alienation between municipal officials and the homeless. We are here to serve and increase the understanding of homeless people,” he said. 

The DHC works with people of all faith traditions to serve some of the poorest people in central Durban. In particular, they help homeless people, drug users, the urban unemployed and refugees. They also offer service through our clinic, feeding scheme, political and economic empowerment, community support and pastoral outreach.

zainul.dawood@inl.co.za