Homelessness IS a Housing Issue: Responding to Different Faces of Homelessness. A City of Tshwane Case Study

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article presents the case of one local housing organisation in the City of Tshwane and its mother organisation, responding to different faces of homelessness through creating diversified housing options. It asserts that the absence of such housing options would render people homeless, or extremely precarious. It insists that homelessness is also a housing issue, challenging a dominant discourse among city officials and politicians relegating homelessness to departments dealing with social services, thereby making it an individual welfare issue, failing to acknowledge the systemic causes of homelessness. It outlines specific challenges for policy, strategy and funding, that—if addressed—could break cycles of homelessness for large percentages of the homeless population.