Durban’s Denis Hurley Centre (DHC) laid bare the organisation’s dire financial status and the reliance on a sustainability fund to get them through a deficit for 2025.

The financial situation was highlighted in the DHC newsletter in December. Raymond Perrier, director of the DHC, had to be honest about the situation and that DHC was entering what he called a delicate phase.

The centre has been known for its work with people of all faith traditions to serve some of the poorest people in central Durban. In particular, they help homeless people, drug users, the urban unemployed and refugees. They offer a clinic service, a feeding scheme, political and economic empowerment, community support and pastoral outreach.

Perrier said that in 2025 they expect to have raised around R6.1 million, which is a commendable 12% increase on 2024.

However, costs in 2025 are estimated to be R6.9 million, partly as a result of the illegal xenophobic blockades of the hospitals. He said this would mean an in-year deficit of almost R860,000.

“We can deal with the deficit because we set up a sustainability fund. One of the reasons we have such a fund is so that we have the cushion to make decisions in a calm and logical way and not be scared into bad decisions for fear that we are going to fall off a cliff,” he explained.

The DHC Board set up a thorough-going review of income, expenses and operations in October and November.

They have:

• retrenched four staff (two full-time and two part-time)
• not filled two staff vacant positions during 2025 
• not given staff an end-of-year half-month bonus and not given senior staff pay increases in 2026. The lower-paid will only get a 2% increase (even though inflation is at 3.6%).
• closed the Dalton Hostel creche after 9 years.

Perrier said the creche will move into the pre-school that Montessori International is opening on Ryde Avenue in Glenwood in 2026. He was grateful to Prof Alain Tschudin and his team for working over several months to prepare for this move. Perrier said the DHC mobile clinic will continue visiting the site and regular patients will be maintained on their ARVs and TB medication.

“With fewer people, we are not able to do everything we want to do, but we remain confident that we can still provide excellent service where it is most needed,” he said.

“All of these decisions are made with a heavy heart. But the trustees are focused on controlling expenses where we can to reduce the risk of further deficits in the future. Everyone in South Africa is feeling the impact of a slow economy – the DHC is as well, but the vulnerable people we serve feel it more acutely than anyone else,” Perrier added.

zainul.dawood@inl.co.za

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