Knowledge Ernest Chiyangwa left Zimbabwe eight years ago in the hope of a better life on the other side of the border. His motivation for this difficult decision was his children who he dreamt of creating a better life for – an almost impossible task in Zimbabwe.

 

“I am a qualified civil Engineer and I worked for five years at The Fezemba Group but when I lost my job my life hit a free fall. I was forced to leave home in search for a better job but after my search ended in dead ends I decided to leave my home city Mutare” says Knowledge.

 

He paid a truck driver to ride along with him to South Africa.

 

He made his way to Bloemfontein and found shelter on a farm. He soon got a job riding wild horses in an attempt to save them.

 

“At first I was terrified to do this job as I saw other workers get seriously injured but I had nowhere to go and thought about my family which motivated to do this work. The pay was R80 a day which was good and I was in a foreign land so I was happy just to find a job” he said.

 

After two years on the job, Knowledge suffered a dislocated shoulder and was chased off the farm as he couldn’t do any other work and was considered a liability. He made his way down to the coast and made contact with a cousin in Durban.

 

The next four years were difficult for the young Zimbabwean

 

He worked odd jobs here and there including working in the garden and as an ordinary labourer at a construction company. But as an illegal immigrant, his employees exploited him and he was paid less than R60 a day and worked without any safety equipment but he says “a job was a job”.

 

“I just had to keep quiet as I came here to work any job is better than no job. I hadn’t seen my family for year and I am the bread winner all I could do was send money for them, “Knowledge said. He then added,” Anything was better than the poverty I faced back in Zimbabwe. When I look at my few year in South Africa at least here I had food to eat and money to send back home. This is the land of opportunities.”

 

Two years later Knowledge finally got the opportunity he dreamed off

 

While working in the garden for Lenny Naidoo, an accountant for the Owasis[s2]  Group that owns the Ridge Shopping Centre in Shallcross, he found a better job. Naidoo organised a job for Knowledge with the Enforce Security Company at the shopping centre and Knowledge became a car guard.

 

According to his employment contract he pays R100 a month for his uniform and works at least 200 hours a month and gets paid R12.50 per hour – excluding the tips he makes. This salary may not be enough for most but it’s a huge improvement for Knowledge. He says that the tips are generally good and the centre is always busy on average he makes at least R5 an hour in tips. He even lives just across the road from the centre so it’s as convenient too. He can buy his monthly goods and go to work without paying for travelling.

 

Knowledge has now brought his family from Zimbabwe to live with him

 

“I will never go back to Zimbabwe my family is now with me so I have nothing left in Zimbabwe. People say it has improved but as Robert Mugabe is in power the country will always be in shambles. After what I faced all those year that place brings back bad memories for me,” he said.

 

Knowledge is comfortable with being a car guard as it is not physically demanding for a man just 33 years old but even though he lost his degree paper he says he has not even thought like an engineer and as long as he can give his family his best and educate his kids nothing else really matters.

 

“I came here with nothing and worked my way up”

 

When asked if he thought he was denying South Africans the chance of a job? Knowledge answered, “I came here with nothing and worked my way up in life. I took a risk by coming here but worked my socks off to get a proper job and if you look at the locals here they make the demands to what they want like they’re in a position to really make demands.”