Life on the streets of Tshwane is no way to live, says homeless man

It’s cold on the streets of Pretoria as the winter winds knife through you, but the hearts of the people are even colder, says Deon Barry, a homeless man who sleeps under a bridge in Murrayfield.

“I am surviving. The people in this area take care of me. There are good people here and a few ars*holes who shout at me to get a job. Then I shout back, ‘Where? Can I come work for you?'” he says.

“It’s cold, especially just before sunrise – half-past five until half-past eight is the coldest time on the street,” he adds.

Barry says the water leak running down the street where he sleeps makes it even colder.

Hard finding a job

He says it isn’t easy to just get a job.

“He was doing some contract work but when it ended, he found himself back on the street.

“People stopped here, gave me black bags and R100 to clean my stop. So I did it, look at how neat it is here,” he says proudly.

Barry doesn’t clean on the other side of the bridge where other homeless people live.

“It’s too dirty and dangerous there, it’s a health hazard.” Barry says some days on the street are harder than others.

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“I do piece jobs here and there and have people who take care of me, but this week has been quiet. Yesterday, I only made R36 for the day but I survive.”

Barry says living on the street isn’t a life. The city is planning to address the plight of the homeless in the capital after their numbers hit record levels this year.

Tshwane says addressing problem

Deputy mayor Nasiphi Moya, who doubles as the MMC of community and social development services, says meetings like the recent Homeless Indaba will be hosted with non-profit organisations on World Homeless Day in October.

She says Tshwane hosted a successful Homelessness Indaba last week attended by NGOs which manage shelters for vulnerable people, including the homeless ofTshwane.

Moya says the city has a homelessness policy, but its implementation has not always been smooth.

“According to the Statistics South Africa census report of 2022, Tshwane has the highest number of homeless people in the country,” says Moya.

“The purpose of the indaba was to facilitate discussions between all relevant stakeholders in Tshwane on measures that can be implemented to address the homelessness challenge in Tshwane.”

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