This special edition was sub-edited by Stephan de Beer (University of Pretoria) and Rehana Vally (University of Pretoria)

This series originally appeared in Development Southern Africa 34(4), 2017, p383-496


City of Tswane view from the Union Buildings
Everyone counted, counts! The first homeless count in the City of Tshwane, October 2022 Research report

Every person counts. And everyone counted during the City of Tshwane’s first official homeless count, counts! This is a critical moral, political and theological assertion, and insistence. It is also…

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Editorial: Pathways out of Homelessness

People do not become homeless out of choice. There is sufficient historical evidence to demonstrate that the social and political vulnerability of street homeless people results from structural factors like…

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(Finding) Pathways out of homelessness: An engaged, trans-disciplinary collaborative in the City of Tshwane

Street homelessness in the City of Tshwane was brought to public attention in the winter of 2014. This led to a composite research project involving different constituencies, including homeless people, to reflect on…

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International responses to homelessness: Lessons for the City of Tshwane

Reports of increases in the numbers of homeless people are pouring in from all over the world yet many governments still do not consider homelessness worthy of a policy response…

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Unshackling the chains of homelessness in the City of Tshwane: A critical appraisal of the current policy in the light…

This article provides a critical appraisal of the current Homelessness Policy for the City of Tshwane in the light of national and local policies and strategies. Both a literature review…

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Homelessness in Pretoria: Exploring the survival challenges of the homeless and their right to the city

This article documents the biographies of 60 homeless people from a range of different backgrounds in South Africa’s capital city of Pretoria. The article focuses on their right to the…

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‘A shelter is not a home’: Voices of homeless women in the City of Tshwane

In response to a request from the City of Tshwane that homelessness in the city be explored, a research team was established in 2014. The research was divided into four…

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‘Not just numbers!’ Homeless people as potential economic contributors in Tshwane

Statistics on homelessness in the City of Tshwane fail to give us ideas about the capacities homeless people have that could be used as a stepping stone for their own…

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Engaging with homelessness in the City of Tshwane: Ethical and practical considerations

Policies and practices aimed at developing more engaged universities that are responsive to the needs of society have become key features of the higher education landscape of most countries. Visions…

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The Tshwane Homeless Summit as dramaturgy: A contextual, trans-disciplinary epistemology from below

In this article we propose a contextual, trans-disciplinary epistemology from below, as explored through the lenses of the Tshwane Homeless Summit and the broader policy-making process of which it formed…

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