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An Irreconcilable Policy Problem? A Study of Local Government Responses to Street Homelessness
Homelessness is a pervasive socio-economic phenomenon that has occurred across the world for centuries. Though a universal definition is difficult to settle on, it is largely agreed that homelessness occurs as the result of the dynamic interplay between economic hardship, social dislocation and vari...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English Eng |
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Department of Political Studies
2026
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| _version_ | 1869483660526223360 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Abrahams, Jane |
| author2 | Naidoo, Vinothan |
| author_browse | Abrahams, Jane Naidoo, Vinothan |
| author_facet | Naidoo, Vinothan Abrahams, Jane |
| author_sort | Abrahams, Jane |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | Homelessness is a pervasive socio-economic phenomenon that has occurred across the world for centuries. Though a universal definition is difficult to settle on, it is largely agreed that homelessness occurs as the result of the dynamic interplay between economic hardship, social dislocation and various institutional determinants. Although homelessness affects all countries, regardless of their level of development, South Africa's complex history of racial discrimination, geographical and economic exclusion, and inheritance of deep, structural inequalities, has given rise to a unique form of homelessness, most commonly seen on the streets of the country's metropolitan municipalities. South African street homeless populations are highly fragmented and are extremely vulnerable members of the population. They experience intense marginalisation and exclusion from public places and are mostly incapable of supporting themselves. Although homelessness is largely viewed as a public nuisance and threat which the state must regulate, policy responses also see the state as having a social responsibility to provide support to the homeless. Thus, this study investigates how metropolitan municipalities manage the irreconcilable tension between policing and supporting the street homeless, using the City of Cape Town as a case study. Baillergeau's (2014) conflicting rationalities framework was used to analyse the City's response to street homelessness. Semi-structured, key informant interviews were conducted with city officials and representatives of non-governmental organisations. It was found that, as a result of inadequate national and provincial government frameworks for addressing street homelessness, municipalities in urban areas have struggled to balance the conflicting demands of maintaining the safety and integrity of public spaces, with the provision of social and economic support for those living rough on the street. Due to the compounding effect of chronic homelessness, guidance from the outdated Street People Policy (2013), the strict enforcement of city by-laws and insufficient institutional capacity and resources, the City has been unable to effectively balance the pressure of criminalising homelessness, with the provision of psycho-social and material support for these groups. This research concludes that although the City has been criticised for the manner in which it has historically responded to the street homeless, it has in recent years, been proactive in revising its strategy to manage the vulnerabilities which the street homeless face in a more humane way, whilst retaining its broader responsibility towards the protection of public spaces. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/43366 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | English Eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-07-01T04:02:31.985Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| publishDateRange | 2026 |
| publishDateSort | 2026 |
| publisher | Department of Political Studies |
| publisherStr | Department of Political Studies |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/43366 An Irreconcilable Policy Problem? A Study of Local Government Responses to Street Homelessness Abrahams, Jane Naidoo, Vinothan homelessness policy Homelessness is a pervasive socio-economic phenomenon that has occurred across the world for centuries. Though a universal definition is difficult to settle on, it is largely agreed that homelessness occurs as the result of the dynamic interplay between economic hardship, social dislocation and various institutional determinants. Although homelessness affects all countries, regardless of their level of development, South Africa's complex history of racial discrimination, geographical and economic exclusion, and inheritance of deep, structural inequalities, has given rise to a unique form of homelessness, most commonly seen on the streets of the country's metropolitan municipalities. South African street homeless populations are highly fragmented and are extremely vulnerable members of the population. They experience intense marginalisation and exclusion from public places and are mostly incapable of supporting themselves. Although homelessness is largely viewed as a public nuisance and threat which the state must regulate, policy responses also see the state as having a social responsibility to provide support to the homeless. Thus, this study investigates how metropolitan municipalities manage the irreconcilable tension between policing and supporting the street homeless, using the City of Cape Town as a case study. Baillergeau's (2014) conflicting rationalities framework was used to analyse the City's response to street homelessness. Semi-structured, key informant interviews were conducted with city officials and representatives of non-governmental organisations. It was found that, as a result of inadequate national and provincial government frameworks for addressing street homelessness, municipalities in urban areas have struggled to balance the conflicting demands of maintaining the safety and integrity of public spaces, with the provision of social and economic support for those living rough on the street. Due to the compounding effect of chronic homelessness, guidance from the outdated Street People Policy (2013), the strict enforcement of city by-laws and insufficient institutional capacity and resources, the City has been unable to effectively balance the pressure of criminalising homelessness, with the provision of psycho-social and material support for these groups. This research concludes that although the City has been criticised for the manner in which it has historically responded to the street homeless, it has in recent years, been proactive in revising its strategy to manage the vulnerabilities which the street homeless face in a more humane way, whilst retaining its broader responsibility towards the protection of public spaces. 2026-06-24T07:58:36Z 2026-06-24T07:58:36Z 2026 2026-06-24T07:51:18Z Thesis / Dissertation Masters MPhil http://hdl.handle.net/11427/43366 en Eng application/pdf Department of Political Studies Faculty of Humanities University of Cape Town |
| spellingShingle | homelessness policy Abrahams, Jane An Irreconcilable Policy Problem? A Study of Local Government Responses to Street Homelessness |
| thesis_degree_str | Master's |
| title | An Irreconcilable Policy Problem? A Study of Local Government Responses to Street Homelessness |
| title_full | An Irreconcilable Policy Problem? A Study of Local Government Responses to Street Homelessness |
| title_fullStr | An Irreconcilable Policy Problem? A Study of Local Government Responses to Street Homelessness |
| title_full_unstemmed | An Irreconcilable Policy Problem? A Study of Local Government Responses to Street Homelessness |
| title_short | An Irreconcilable Policy Problem? A Study of Local Government Responses to Street Homelessness |
| title_sort | irreconcilable policy problem a study of local government responses to street homelessness |
| topic | homelessness policy |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/43366 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT abrahamsjane anirreconcilablepolicyproblemastudyoflocalgovernmentresponsestostreethomelessness AT abrahamsjane irreconcilablepolicyproblemastudyoflocalgovernmentresponsestostreethomelessness |