​After years of working hard for herself and paying the bills, suddenly Babalwa Dywili was jobless and had no place to stay and immediately became homeless.
The 37-year-old from Eastern Cape, who is currently residing in Pretoria said it was a painful experience to lose everything and suddenly be on the verge of sleeping on the street, especially in an unsafe province like Gauteng.

“It was a stressful period of my life, emotionally draining, and I didn’t know where to go”, she said.

Dywili added that she was drowning in debt at the time and was also unable to pay rent until she met a friend who invited her to church where she told a pastor and other members of the church that she was homeless. She said the following day the church referred her to a shelter called Youth for Survival in the Pretoria CBD where she received help and later was taken to counseling.

“I was given a place to stay and while I was at the shelter I was encouraged to attend computer classes and later registered for End-User Computing skills development”, Dywili said.

She said her stay at the shelter helped her to find herself again thereafter she was asked to assist and stood in for a lady who went to maternity leave. The shelter then decided to send her for a facilitation training course, and she is now a qualified computer facilitator. Dywili said she is currently employed permanently as a facilitator at the shelter.

“I am grateful for what the department and the shelter have done for me”, she said.

Dywili was speaking on the online event at the Tshwane Regional Homeless Shelter Forum Launch held at Arcadia Faith Community Church in Pretoria last Friday, 19 May 2023.