Understanding the reasons behind young men moving into the city and living on the streets and what they represent in their minds as well as those of other people are just some of the issues that were tackled by Father Stephen Tully, Durban’s Emmanuel Cathedral Administrator, during a recent seminar by the Urban Futures Centre.

The seminar was held at the University’s Engineering and the Built Environment Faculty Boardroom, Steve Biko Campus.

Professor Monique Marks, who currently heads up the newly established Urban Futures Centre, said, “I was at the Emmanuel Cathedral and was completely amazed by the engagement with the city that was going on and for me it was one of the key organisations that really meets the street where it’s at. I thought, because we at UFC are interested in the everyday lives of people, that it would be incredibly useful to find out the kind of ways in which an important group like the Emmanuel Cathedral deals with people on the streets, whether they come from South Africa or other spaces in our continent and regardless of what their circumstances are,” she said.

Father Tully gave his talk on Simultaneously visible and invisible: Young men on the streets in Durban. His talk focused on action, particularly regarding the young men on the streets of Durban. His aim is to make these young men more visible in positive and enabling ways. “I think what these men need is employment and being a man of faith, you pray about it, somehow God connects you with people who can solve the problem, and if we don’t get the facts, we are kind of stuck and this is where academics have a great and important part to play to give us what we need so we and other faith-based organisations can do the leg work and that is very important for us,” he said.

Father Tully said according to the World Bank, two-thirds of the South African lives in urban areas, adding that smaller cities such as Polokwane, Nelspruit, Rustenburg and Van der Bijl Park, are filling up faster than bigger cities. Father He stressed that the problem will increase.

Using his experience of working in the city of eThekwini, Father Tully realised that one of the major challenges was to enable young men to find their foothold in society in a humane and meaningful way. He feels that as a society, we can deal with the challenges of the city and there is always a solution when there is collective effort.

“Some streets are very quiet and you find the homeless are congregating on the pavement and from time the time you will have a scurry of metro police shooing people away. It used to be brutal but now it’s not so violent. They take all their belongings including their medications such as ARVS and throw it onto a truck and then they scattered them from one corner to next one, and that’s job done, command obeyed and we move on,” he said.

Father Tully said that they, at the Emmanuel Cathedral, are trying to get to know the heart of the person on the streets. “We have failed and we will continue failing but there have been some successes. Look in your own neighborhoods; you have people on the streets that are suffering. Get to know them, engage with them and if you also keen to do learn more, visit us at the Emmanuel Cathedral in Cathedral Road, Durban or contact 031 306 3596,” he said.

Father Tully has a Diploma in Analytical Chemistry and BA Major in Psychology and Logic. He also has a Bachelor of Sacred Theology from Urbanianum University in Rome. At city level, he is involved with the Inner-City Network which strives to link all Christian help centres in the city.

– Waheeda Peters

Pictured: Professor Monique Marks and Father Stephen Tully discuss the issue of homeless men on the streets on Durban at a recent seminar.