Brakpan resident ‘beads’ the odds
James Mbiriyakura (40) explained that he grew up doing beadwork just for fun and never thought he would make a living from it.
Brakpan resident James Mbiriyakura (40) felt devastated after leaving his country to come to South Africa for work, only to find that the grass may only seem greener on the other side.
James, who is originally from Zimbabwe, came to South Africa after obtaining a diploma in journalism.
“I went to Johannesburg with big dreams and I wanted to be able to provide for my family by having a good job,” he said.
“After some time I noticed that it’s harder to find a decent job here than I’d thought. That’s when I started with the beadwork.”
James and his wife are living in Dalview, but he mentioned that his three children, aged 16, 11 and five, are still living in Zimbabwe, with his parents.
He explained that he grew up doing beadwork just for fun and never thought he would make a living from it.
“I noticed that what people don’t know is that the items on display aren’t really the things that bring in the money.
“Usually it’s the special orders. Anybody can come up to me and ask me if I’m able to create whatever they want.”
He added that the more difficult items to create are those he hasn’t seen in real life.
“The end result is 3D and that’s why it gets hard if I’ve only seen it in 2D,” he said.
He then described, with enthusiasm, one of the bigger projects he was asked to create.
“Once I was asked to create a cow. In a week’s time I created a small cow that was over 1m in height.
“Right now I’m doing this for survival. Life never stops and we have to keep on going and pushing to make it out there,” he concluded.
James’s hard work is usually seen on display at the corner of Craigholm and Venter streets, across from VC Spar, in Dalview.
