Homelessness in South Africa

Homelessness in South Africa dates back to the apartheid period.^[1] Increasing unemployment, lack of affordable housing, social disintegration, and social and economic policies have all been identified as contributing factors to the issue.^[2] Some scholars argue that solutions to homelessness in South Africa lie more within the private sphere than in the legal and political spheres.^[3]

There is no national census on homeless people in South Africa, researchers instead rely on individual studies of homeless persons in particular cities.^[4] The South African homeless population has been estimated at 200,000.^[5]

One study found that three out of four South African metropolitan municipalities viewed homelessness primarily as a social dependency issue, responding with social interventions. 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.^[6]

^ Olufemi, Olusola (1998). "Street homelessness in Johannesburg inner-city: A preliminary survey". Environment and Urbanization. 10 (2): 223–234. doi:10.1177/095624789801000210. S2CID 55973607.
^ Mji, G. (2006). "Disability and homelessness: a personal journey from the margins to the centreand back". In Watermeyer B; Swaartz L; Lorenzo T; Schneider M; Priestley M (eds.). Disability and Social Change: A South African Agenda. South Africa: Human Sciences Research Council. pp. 350–360.
^ Nussbaum, Martha (1 September 2002). "Introduction to Comparative Constitutionalism". Chicago Journal of International Law. 3 (2): 429–434.
^ Speak, Suzanne (2005). "Relationship Between Children's Homelessness in Developing Countries and the Failure of Women's Rights Legislation". Housing, Theory and Society. 22 (3): 129–146. doi:10.1080/14036090510034581. S2CID 154844071.
^ "Homelessness in South Africa".
^ Du Toit, Jacques Louis (2010). "Local metropolitan government responses to homelessness in South Africa". Development Southern Africa. 27: 111–128. doi:10.1080/03768350903519390. hdl:2263/14765. S2CID 218526847.

[1] Olufemi, Olusola (1998). "Street homelessness in Johannesburg inner-city: A preliminary survey". Environment and Urbanization. 10 (2): 223–234. doi:10.1177/095624789801000210. S2CID 55973607.

[2] Mji, G. (2006). "Disability and homelessness: a personal journey from the margins to the centreand back". In Watermeyer B; Swaartz L; Lorenzo T; Schneider M; Priestley M (eds.). Disability and Social Change: A South African Agenda. South Africa: Human Sciences Research Council. pp. 350–360.

[3] Nussbaum, Martha (1 September 2002). "Introduction to Comparative Constitutionalism". Chicago Journal of International Law. 3 (2): 429–434.

[4] Speak, Suzanne (2005). "Relationship Between Children's Homelessness in Developing Countries and the Failure of Women's Rights Legislation". Housing, Theory and Society. 22 (3): 129–146. doi:10.1080/14036090510034581. S2CID 154844071.

[5] "Homelessness in South Africa".

[6] Du Toit, Jacques Louis (2010). "Local metropolitan government responses to homelessness in South Africa". Development Southern Africa. 27: 111–128. doi:10.1080/03768350903519390. hdl:2263/14765. S2CID 218526847.

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