The Big Issue

The Big Issue is a vibrant and energetic organisation, started in 1997 to support homeless, marginalised and unemployed people in Cape Town to earn a living.

The Big Issue is a socially responsible non-profit organisation that enables willing unemployed and marginalized adults to take responsibility for their own lives through development employment programme. 

We produce a monthly magazine which individuals purchase from our offices to sell at traffic lights. By generating their own income homeless, unemployed and socially marginalised people are taking their lives and their futures into their own hands. 

Income generated from magazine sales and advertising goes directly into producing and publishing the magazine. The Big Issue therefore relies on funding from national and international foundations, and from corporates and individuals, to support our work so that we are able to cover not only the cost of publication and printing, but also to cover our operating costs so that we can continue to providing skills training, social support, and counselling for the marginalised, unemployed and destitute.