A recent opinion piece by Malixole Sikhungo, a freelance researcher based in Cape Town, argues that current funding models for homelessness in South Africa are fundamentally broken. Sikhungo, who has lived experience on the streets and professional roles in the non-profit and corporate-commercial law sectors, contends that the system prioritizes temporary solutions over permanent housing. He notes that service providers are forced to prioritize metric-driven outputs over actual empowerment due to funding models that tie funding to bed-night tallies.
Sikhungo's experience with homelessness in Cape Town informs his analysis. He recalls conversations with fellow residents on the streets, where they questioned why funding models perpetuate a homelessness turnstile. He also notes that service providers are captured by the system, just like the unhoused residents they aim to help. This creates a perverse economic incentive where institutional survival depends on preserving the problem. Sikhungo argues that genuine, structural accountability is needed to ensure public funds are spent on permanent solutions rather than sustaining dependency.
The current funding system creates a power imbalance between service providers, donors, and unhoused residents. Sikhungo likens this arrangement to a scientific pH scale, where service providers occupy a neutral position, while donors and residents sit at diametrical extremes. The unhoused community has no bargaining power, and accountability flows exclusively upward to boardroom ledgers. This approach violates South Africa's socio-economic framework, which guarantees the right to adequate housing and mandates that the state take reasonable measures to achieve its progressive realization.
The Constitutional Court has made it clear that the state's obligation to provide housing cannot be satisfied by short-term, outsourced management. In Government of the Republic of South Africa v Grootboom, the court ruled that a housing program must provide for those in desperate need. Furthermore, in City of Johannesburg v Blue Moonlight Properties, the court established that the state cannot plead budgetary constraints or outsource core constitutional obligations to escape its duty. Sikhungo argues that offloading emergency housing to a metric-driven marketplace abdicates these duties.
Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis has pledged to upscale the release of city-owned land for social housing if re-elected. However, Sikhungo argues that the current grant models backing multimillion-rand 'safe spaces' and shelter funding systems inadvertently perpetuate a spinning homelessness turnstile. To break this loop, accountability must flow downward to the pavement. Sikhungo calls for three structural changes: outcomes-based funding, mandatory democratic representation, and a joint national homelessness strategy.
Sikhungo's proposed solutions aim to decommodify homelessness and prioritize permanent housing pathways. He advocates for outcomes-based funding that rewards long-term exits from homelessness, tracks permanent housing placement, and independent livelihood sustainability over multiple years. He also proposes mandatory democratic representation, requiring subsidized providers to reserve a minimum of 20% of board seats for currently or formerly unhoused residents with binding voting rights.
As World Homeless Day approaches on 10 October, South Africa must move past symbolic awareness and overhaul the system. Sikhungo's call to action urges President Cyril Ramaphosa and municipal leadership to implement these structural changes immediately. True security begins with a front door key, not an outsourced mattress. True accountability ought not to be measured by how many beds are filled tonight, but by how many individuals are empowered to leave the pavement forever.
Key points
- Current funding models for homelessness in South Africa prioritize temporary solutions over permanent housing.
- Proposed solutions include outcomes-based funding, mandatory democratic representation, and a joint national homelessness strategy.
- The goal is to decommodify homelessness and prioritize permanent housing pathways.
