Local recycler shares his story
“All I need is a job. I need to make my dreams come true, help my mother and all my other siblings.
“Life keeps teaching us – it never stops.”
These are the words of 34-year-old Germiston recycler Sylvester Mahlo, who moved to Gauteng in search of a better life.
Raised by a single mother, Mahlo had to grow up fast to help his mother raise his other siblings.
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“I do not know my father. I was raised under the concept of ‘a village raises a child’.”
Mahlo attended primary school with dreams of one day completing his matric but that dream, like many of his dreams, was cut short.
“At school, I was a smart child. I loved learning but I was faced with the reality of poverty.
“I enjoyed going to school but starvation played its role too. Sometimes I would attend school without food and while writing exams. I would often write wrong answers because of lack of concentration and my results would stun my teachers because they knew I was smart.”
The now Germiston resident says his story of moving to Gauteng is fascinating but the transition later changed his life forever. He believes he is a hard worker and visionary.
“I couldn’t finish school so I dropped out at standard 8 (Grade 10). I came to Gauteng to stay with my uncle in Malvern with hopes of completing my matric or even getting a driver’s licence,” he said.
“I got a job and worked very hard at it. I took all my savings and went for a security training course and graduated,” he said.
At this point, he had hoped to one day join a security service to have a steady income.
His relationship with his uncle soured and he started finding refuge among homeless people in Malvern.
Mahlo currently resides at Germiston Marathon informal settlement.
As a recycler, he has managed to buy himself all the equipment to build his shack where he resides with his brother.
“My brother has asthma, and I am all he has. We have to buy his medication and put bread on the table.
“All I need is a job. I need to make my dreams come true, help my mother and all my other siblings.
“The little I make from recycling enables me to eat and buy my brother’s medication, nothing much can be put into savings,” said Mahlo.
Contact the newsroom by emailing:
Marietta Lombard (Editor) germistoncitynews@caxton.co.za, or (Journalists) Busi Vilakazi busiv@caxton.co.za
