Grade 11, Ikageng
Breakfast is served. The regular expired tin fish. I only get to have one spoon every morning but today I have four more in the bag, so more for me. I would have it with water but the people in the shanty town think people like ‘us’ will dirty the water. Whenever they start chasing me away from the Jojo tank, I laugh a little. The only difference between me and them is that they have shelter, and I don’t. Otherwise I experience the same challenges that they face; challenges of poverty, water and electricity supply, sanitation, infrastructure. … the list goes on.
After eating breakfast, I went on with my journey to find money or something to eat. As an 18-year old boy, they usually made me do the work first, and then paid me afterwards – if they paid me. Most would trick me and run away afterwards. Some would pay me with expired food but I was grateful for the little I had.
I stopped at the robots and put out my cup, where they can put money in. In a day, I would make R10 at the most. I would get sworn at. ‘Move away you dirty thing’, most would say. Today I decided that I would do things differently. I would start singing to catch their attention. I was not good at singing but I was also not bad. I decided to cross to the other side of the street where most of the cars stopped.
Breakfast is served. Toasted double-cheese sandwich served with bacon and eggs. There are a lot of sauces to choose from to go with the fries. I am not hungry, but I decide to have one slice of the toasted bread and then the rest can be had by the helper.
‘Gladys’ I call for her. Yes, sir!’ ‘You can have the rest of the food, I have to rush to work,’ I tell her.
I know she will save some for her little sister who she lives with – no mother or father. She thinks I don’t know, but I do. I know how much she longs to go to school. At 24, she wants a better life for her and her sister, and how she struggles to reach her dreams!
‘Thank you Sir,’ she says.
I wear my mask and get in the car and get ready for another day of work. Perks of being a father. I can’t wait to see my kids tomorrow. I miss them so much. My wife has been asking me when I will be coming home, but I want to surprise them. It was a very tough decision to make: coming to work here, far away from my family. The pandemic of COVID-19 has caused a lot of changes, especially at work. Most of my colleagues are working from home, but I thought that that would be too stressful because of my 2 sons who are still just 2 years old, and a wife that’s always nagging me about helping her with the chores.
‘It’s not a man’s job,’ I would tell her. I pass by the hardware shop to get a few things. The robot is still red. I am so impatient because I am already late. I try to overtake the car in front of me when a young man crosses the street.
‘Please help me, ‘ I shout when I enter the hospital. ‘What do you need help with Sir?’, ask the nurses and doctors, panicking. ‘It’s not me, it’s him!’ ‘Oh, I thought you had a problem, but anyways, you can put him there. We will send him to the nearest public hospital.’
‘But he’s bleeding a lot! Help him!’
‘We don’t assist people for free sir, and he obviously won’t pay,’ said one of the nurses who was the only one who did not leave.
The rest of them had gone to help other patients whose lives weren’t at stake like this boy’s life. I never meant to hurt him. I did not see him cross the street. I should not have rushed to over-take the car in front of me, now look! A young man is going to die because of me!
I could not handle the pain, hurt and anger I was feeling inside. ‘ I will pay for everything, just help him!’ I was panicking now.
‘Okay you can bring him in, and please wear your mask.’ He was very tall but he was skinny so he was not heavy to carry. They came with a stretcher and took him in.
‘What’s going on? ‘I asked. A white man in a good looking suit and haircut stood beside me. he looked very happy to see me talking. He’s awake!’ he started shouting.
A male doctor came in, ‘How are you feeling?’ He asked me. ‘I feel good except for the pain in my legs and chest.’‘Apparently you are suffering from a disease of deficiency: malnutrition. The car may have hurt you but not like the food you have been eating,’ said the doctor. ‘You need to thank this man over here for saving your life.’ ‘Or, rather, just thank him for showing me just how privileged I am,’ said the man.
I have learnt something this week. South Africa is still unequal and it seems no one has a problem with that. Certainly the breakfast served to me is different from the breakfast of the little boy. I never appreciate the ‘little’ I have, but he appreciates his. I soon learnt that the boy is homeless and has no one to look up to for help, just himself. I had noticed how the hospital staff had rushed to help me, but relaxed when they knew it was the young, black boy in need of help. The inequality between blacks and whites, rich and poor, men and women, young and old still exists, 26 years after democracy. The question is: when will it end?