eThekwini councillor demands urgent action on homelessness report for Albert Park

eThekwini councillor Andre Beetge has raised concerns about the impact drug addicts and homeless people near Albert Park would have on tourism once visitors arrive in Durban for the December holidays. 

Beetge also expressed his frustration during an eThekwini Executive meeting on Tuesday, when a report from the municipality's safer cities was not presented.

Beetge claimed that the city was paying lip service to the matter.

The report was intended to detail a plan to assist the homeless who occupy verges and part of the road near Albert Park/Umbilo and the M4 Southern freeway, entering the Durban CBD. 

The group had been recently removed by the Durban metro police from a vacant land they occupied nearby and from alongside the train lines on Che Guevara Road, formerly known as Moore Road.

In May 2025, the municipality cleared vagrants and drug addicts from Albert Park and has since transformed it for public use. 

Deputy Mayor and chairperson of the eThekwini security and emergency services cluster, Zandile Myeni, who is also the National Freedom Party (NFP) councillor, explained to Exco that the long-awaited report on homelessness in the city was not ready because certain gaps needed to be filled in. 

Myeni stated that she had reviewed the draft but found it lacking the level of detail previously requested.

In the previous Exco meeting, eThekwini Mayor Cyril Xaba had requested a comprehensive overview of the number of homeless individuals across the entire municipality and an update on the Sakhithemba Shelter Project, which is currently under construction in Illovo, south of Durban.

The project is expected to provide safe accommodation, skills development, job opportunities, and access to essential social services for people experiencing homelessness.

It was also mentioned that the report must outline the city’s short-, medium- and long-term strategies for reintegrating affected individuals back into mainstream society.

Beetge, who initially tabled the matter the previous week following growing public outcry, particularly from residents and businesses in Umbilo, noted that the item was missing from the agenda distributed before the meeting on Tuesday. 

“Why would the department struggle to provide the information, emphasising that homelessness was not a new challenge but one that had escalated steadily in both scale and intensity. The department should have no difficulty consolidating its core responsibilities into an updated report.

“I remain sceptical about whether the city had any meaningful plan at all, suggesting that what had been communicated publicly amounted to lip service rather than a genuine, actionable strategy,” he said. 

Beetge said the DA is already on record having proposed a partnership with other spheres of government and the use of buildings donated by KwaZulu-Natal Public Works and Infrastructure as alternative accommodation for the homeless. 

ANC councillor Nkosenhle Madlala said that delaying the report was in everyone’s best interest. He argued that the additional time would allow all affected departments to align their inputs, rather than relying solely on Safer Cities, ensuring the final submission was accurate and comprehensive.

“The report to the executive committee must meet certain standards, including solutions to the challenges. We must also understand the broader issues around the problem. It is not about policing, but also a societal matter with many push and pull factors,” he said.

zainul.dawood@inl.co.za