POLOKWANE – The shy 23-year-old has been in the country for 13 months and he is trying to make ends meet with the use of his hands. With the money he makes from sales, Marange takes care of his siblings and younger brothers in Zimbabwe.
Making the wooden cooking spoons is something he learned to do while at school and he saw an opportunity to use it as a means to survive when he came to South Africa to seek better opportunities. It takes him about 30 minutes to make one spoon and he sources the wood from Zimbabwe that he uses to carve into a stick. The wire he said he buys here.
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He has struggled with his business because it is difficult for him to get a permit. “The requirements for a permit are a lot. They are set in such a way that discourages anybody who wants to start a business in South Africa to give up, especially Small, Medium and Micro-sized Enterprises (SMEEs). I would like to be able to go about my business without having to look over my shoulder because municipal officials could show up any time and confiscate my work,” he said.
He plans to one day open his own shop . Although he would love to be home, closer to his family, he said that he would open his shop in the country because his market is in South Africa and he can be found at the parking lot on corner Hospital and Hans van Rensburg street.
