‘We are not nyaope boys,’ says young man on the streets of Thembisa
'Some of us are orphans, others couldn’t finish school and others are from jail and no one wants to employ us'
Since the President extended the lockdown with 14 days, government stakeholders have been extending their hands to help the vulnerable though this time.
Many young people are seen on the streets of Thembisa helping people to board taxis. In return the taxi drivers give them money to say thank you.
Some of these youngsters are doing the only thing to survive and feed themselves and their families. During lockdown it is almost for them to lock themselves up and stay at home because they need every cent they can get from the drivers of taxis.
Dumisani Mlambo from Winnie Mandela hustles by the Winnie Mandela Clinic and gets a few rands by helping people board taxis.
Mlambo said the society does not always understand their ways. They are from different backgrounds.
“Some of us are orphans, others couldn’t finish school and others are from jail and no one wants to employ us. It has been like this for a long time. We have to beg every day,” said Mlambo.
“We are here to survive because from what we can get here we can feed ourselves and at least buy a loaf of bread. We know all the different hand signs to call a taxi. We can, therefore, stop taxis for people who want to go to different areas.
“Every piece job I can get I do because it will give me something. That shows how hard the economical situation is.
“It becomes a struggle these days since people are stuck in their houses because of the lockdown.”
Mlambo said throughout the four years he spent hustling on the street corner he has been battling to accept the name calling, especially when it comes from elderly wearing church clothes.
“How can another mother call a child of another mother a ‘nyaope boy’ without remorse? Even on Sundays you will find women of faith avoiding taxis.
“We ask that they stop harassing us and calling us names. We hustlers are not criminals though others have their ulterior motives at times to survive. We can’t be painted with the same brush just because we have the same struggles.”
