“I’m Beyond Heartbroken”: Makeshift Homes in Durban Expose One of SA’s Disturbing Living Conditions

• South Africans were left stunned after footage emerged of people living in plastic shelters squeezed between makeshift walls and a busy Durban highway
• The man filming had to cut his visit short after residents in the settlement grew agitated and the situation became too tense to continue
• People were openly injecting themselves with whoonga in the settlement, with the cheap drug having devastated KwaZulu-Natal communities for more than a decade

People are sleeping on bare ground in plastic shelters inches from one of Durban’s busiest highways, and South Africans are horrified.

A TikTok content creator, @yungearn, visited the area above Albert Park in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, along the M4 highway on 26 February 2026. What he found and filmed stunned Mzansi cold. Rows of makeshift plastic shelters crammed next to speeding traffic. People with nowhere to go, no beds to sleep on, and no wall between them and a highway that is never quiet.

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Life on the edge of the road

Albert Park itself has long been a flashpoint in Durban’s battle with homelessness and drug dependency. The area sits in the centre of eThekwini, a metro already stretched thin by unemployment and urban migration. For years, people have flagged the area as one of the most dangerous and neglected spaces in the city.

People living there are exposed to exhaust fumes, traffic noise around the clock, and extreme heat with little to no shade. There are no ablution facilities. No running water or even electricity. It is just structures made from plastic, cardboard, and whatever scraps can be found to build a wall between a body and the road.

Whoonga in broad daylight

What made @yungearn’s footage even more confronting was people openly injecting themselves with whoonga. The drug is a form of low-grade 'black tar' which is sometimes mixed with antiretroviral medications, rat poison, and household chemicals. It has devastated communities across KwaZulu-Natal for over a decade.

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Whoonga first entered South Africa’s townships between 2000 and 2006 before spreading to Durban around 2010. A single hit costs as little as R20. This makes it accessible even to those with nothing.

Watch the TikTok video below:

Mzansi reacts to the conditions

@DeeMak commented:

“I know this place.😳How did we come to this as a country?”

@Yvette-CHILD OF THE MOST HIGH said:

“Well done to our government.”

@user8936515793773 Denny Wright wrote:

“Thank you, ANC.👏. Well done for being there for your people. We keep on praying that God will give us a government that will help its people.❤️✝️”

@candykal said:

“This is sad. No human being should have to suffer like this. I wish the government could help them with shelters and rehab.”

@Phumz commented:

“I'm beyond heartbroken.🥺”

@Ntombyzodwa Lepshe:

"Our government need to do better this year. At least sponsor Ladgag or some rehab centre.😔”

More makeshift structures in Mzansi

• A Bryanston home has been hijacked and transformed into a shocking makeshift settlement, exposing the growing problem of hijacked properties in Johannesburg’s affluent suburbs.
• Residents of Sebokeng Zone 7 are relying on a risky makeshift bridge built by a Vereeniging businessman after more than a decade of failed promises by the Emfuleni municipality.
• A daredevil rolled around in a makeshift cart and ran a red light at high speed in a video that stunned Mzansi peeps.

Source: Briefly News