The hopes and prayers of Thapelo Phetlo

“Being on the streets is depressing…for me it’s like I failed to fulfil God’s purpose for myself.”

Thapelo “Marvelous” Phetlo, 31, left Kimberley, his home-town, in 2015 with the intention to build a better life for himself.

He had lived with his great-grandmother for years, but his yearning for independence pushed him to move to Pretoria.

But soon Phetlo found himself living on the streets of the city with his most prized possession – a torn single-page CV that he keeps in his blue corduroy trousers.



“I have been homeless since 2016. It’s been very difficult for me to find a job since job opportunities are very scarce.

“Wherever I go, I carry my CV. You never know who I might meet and get a breakthrough,” he says.

Phetlo told Daily Maverick he had worked on a construction project for an electrical contractor, Motor and Gen.

“I used to work for a guy named Paolo, doing electrical work for a construction project. But Paolo went back to Portugal when the project finished”.

When the construction project ended, Phetlo was left jobless with no one to turn to.

“I have no one in my life but God’s support.”

Despite having two older sisters whom he says are successful, Phetlo feels he has burdened them enough and has to “take charge” of his own life.

“I have been living in and out of shelters. Some days you don’t find space, and you must hustle. But I am a hustler. I wake up with a plan every day.”

Phetlo says he has made multiple requests to the City of Tshwane asking to be directed to a homeless shelter. Promises were made but nothing ever happened.

The City of Tshwane’s MMC for Social Development, Sakkie du Plooy, told Daily Maverick there is only one shelter that belongs to the city, which is supposed to provide sleeping space for about 200 people.

The city is in the process of building another shelter, according to Du Plooy. But he says this will not happen overnight.

“We have identified a big warehouse and we are in the process of getting the tenders. But we don’t have a bucket full of cash that we dish out and the job is done tomorrow”.

Du Plooy said the mayoral committee has “for the first time budgeted R1.5-million to deal with homelessness in the city”. The money will be used to refurbish the existing shelter, build a new one and support NGOs that run shelters. But he warned that some NGOs want to be funded, but do not have the best of intentions.

In the meantime, Phetlo spends his days job hunting and begging for money or food.

According to Salvation Army’s Carin Holmes, “Some homeless people are here because of circumstances, some because they lost interest in life, but unemployment and poverty are the root cause.”

The unemployment rate in South Africa is 29%, with young people affected the most. Added to that, President Cyril Ramaphosa warned of looming job losses as the economy continues to plunge.

As a recovering drug addict, Phetlo advocates against substance abuse, especially for youth. He says most young people that find themselves homeless fall into a drug abuse trap to numb their pain.

“Most of the youth, we are unemployed. They don’t have nothing to do. There is no plan A and there is no Plan B,” Phetlo said. “They guys, now to relieve the stress, they take substances.”

He says that homelessness should never have been a reality. But because of government failures, the situation is worsening.

“The current government doesn’t have a clear direction, they are debating, and not implementing. People are actually governing in their pockets and not for people.” DM