[Here is my story of two White homeless men, Afrikaners, whom I see often in Johannesburg. I don’t want to say exactly where they “live” because the Police have been known to pick up these Whites to get them off the streets. Of late I have seen many more whites begging on the streets, but I’ve just not bothered to take photos. I will take some more.

In a certain area I go to from time to time to do a bit of shopping, I have often seen groups of homeless white men in their 50’s and older. They aren’t drunks. They just live on the street. I have even seen them in groups of 4 or 5.

But in this particular street, two of them seem to stick together and I have often seen them. When it rains I see them sitting on the pavement under cover. I don’t always have my camera with me, but on this particular day, I managed to get some good shots of them. I did not want them to see me taking the photos. I did not want to make them feel uncomfortable.

On this particular day the one old man with the big beard had a guitar and he was playing it. He wasn’t playing it for money. They weren’t begging. He was just playing some music and singing to himself as he sat on the street. The other old guy behind him in the jeans is his buddy.

This photo is just to show you the area where they are sitting.

On this particular day, as the old guy was playing his guitar, I saw a smiling black man walk up to them and sit down with them for a few minutes. Then the black man left.

The old guy in the background is drinking out of a plastic cup. As I have said, they are not drunks. I have never seen them with beer. They have plastic cups with them, and they have plastic containers with food which they eat. They are quite clean and neat, given that they’re living on the street. They also seem to always have some food to eat. I also have seen one of them walk into a fast food outlet with a plastic bottle to ask the blacks there for water, which the blacks then give them.

In this photo, I want you to see those black bags next to them. That is the sum total of all their possessions. Even when White people are completely down and out, they are often amazingly well organised. I have seen this before when I visited a camp of unemployed whites some years ago.

I have seen these two living on the pavement for some months now, in all kinds of weather. I’ve never struck up a conversation with them. But I have given them money.

Jan]