Homeless in Northcliff with nowhere to sleep legally
Being homeless is tough enough, but having to hustle to find somewhere to sleep where JMPD or law enforcement won't bother you is difficult.
With beds in homeless shelters being vastly inadequate for the thousands of homeless in the city, destitute individuals are hard pressed to find somewhere to sleep.
“City by-laws forbid the use of public parks as a venue for the homeless to sleep, homeowners often complain when they sleep near their houses and businesses do what they can to prevent bodies lying on the pavements near their stores,” said Mary Gillett-de Klerk, founder of Johannesburg Organisation of Services to the Homeless (Josh).
This does not mean there is no empathy for the indigent, but the reality is, finding a safe spot to keep your meagre belongings and have uninterrupted sleep is sometimes a daily battle.
The Northcliff Melville Times met with three men, who have all had to sleep rough, to better understand their struggles.
Felicity Lawlor, founder of Let’s Work in Northcliff, is currently assisting all three men thanks to the generosity of the larger community who donates toward her worthy projects that aim to give a hand-up to those sleeping rough.
They are currently doing odd jobs around the neighbourhood for a daily stipend – jobs such as, helping to maintain verges as part of various City Park Blitz campaigns, collecting litter from parks and assisting with painting and handy work.
Ben Monyane (45) originally from the Free State has been sleeping rough for two years.
Troubles with is family forced him to leave his home and come to the City of Gold to try and start afresh. He lamented that ‘life has been tough, it’s not easy finding work and staying clean when you sleep in the bushes’.
He prefers to sleep alone as forming alliances with other homeless persons has led to his belongings being stolen and sometimes violence which he wants to avoid.
He hopes his efforts with Lawlor will bear fruit. “I am doing everything I can to better myself. It’s mentally hard but I must get myself into a better life. Each night I pray and hope for better days.”
Norman Sibisi (38) left Soweto a few years ago. “I ran away from home; I could not take the abuse and family problems,” he said.
He slept in the botanical gardens covertly for a couple of years before meeting Lawlor, following which he has managed to secure basic accommodation and is headed in the right direction to leading a more dignified existence.
Sibisi recalls how, when trying to earn money for food as a car guard, ‘people were often rude to me and said it is not a proper job; they said I was dirty’. He remembers the feeling of desperation as he ‘was just trying to earn honestly, I was trying, but it was hard’.
Themba Ndaba (29) from Richards Bay has also found accommodation but remembers his days on the streets as being the ‘hardest of his life’. A friend had offered him work in the city, but when that relationship soured, he lost his job and soon thereafter his accommodation. He managed to sleep unnoticed in open spaces in Victory Park for two years before he managed to take steps leading to better prospects.
All three men in their own ways asked for the broader community to understand that ‘not all homeless men are dangerous drug addicts’.
“Bad things happen to good people; we are homeless, not helpless,” said Monyane.
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