Durban chamber: Fast track plans to integrate homeless into economy

The chamber believes the large number of people sleeping on the streets in the CBD pose a threat to the local economy. 

It says business is being driven away from key areas due to crime and sanitation concerns. 

The chamber’s Taweni Gondwa-Xaba says members are concerned.

"We need to find quick ways to absorb these homeless people into the formal economy," she said.

"It could start with something as little as making them formal car guards, for example, so they become part of the solution."

"We think that organisations that are trying to get these people into such activities should be encouraged", Gondwana-Xaba said.