The City of Johannesburg hopes to open two shelters before the year ends to deal with homelessness in the city.

Alan Grobler from the city's displaced persons unit estimated the number of homeless people to be more than 5,500.

“It is a crisis - more so because of the reluctance of making use of these facilities. We have people who come and never return and some who do not come at all, for different reasons. We hope to open fully functional shelters by December and the ultimate goal is to have one shelter in every region," said Grobler.

The shelters are expected to be opened in Florida and Windsor. They will be extensions of an existing overnight shelter in Hillbrow, which accommodates 150 people.

Psycho-social treatment, food and facilities for sleeping, bathing and laundry are some of the services that will be provided at the shelters.