A flight from war

Car guards have become part and parcel of South African life, but behind the whistles and waves there is often an untold story, in this case a man’s incredible escape from his war torn country.
Raymond Muvwala works for Park Smart and spends his days with his colleagues at the Ballito Junction looking after people’s cars.
Originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), he has been in South Africa for five years.
Muvwala is an educated man and a qualified nurse, although he does not have the papers to prove it.
“I do not know where the papers are. They were somewhere in the house but when we heard that war was coming, we had to run. There was no time to look for anything.”
He spoke about how he moved towards the DRC border with a group of others he had met along the road.
“You cannot just go straight towards the border,” he said.
“Sometimes you meet another group coming from another direction and they say ‘do not go that way’. It takes a long time and you have to be very careful.”
Muvwala’s search for asylum brought him to South Africa, which he said is more accommodating to refugees.
“We hear of refugee camps in other countries. In those camps they feed you like babies but you are not free. Better to come to South Africa where at least we have our freedom.”
A car-guard, according to Muvwala, is “the lowest you can be”, but he is managing to fund further studies in the hopes of building a better life. Yet he still longs for his home country.
“You cannot be happy when you are away from your home.Everything is different here, the food, the clothes, the culture are all different.”
However, getting home is not currently an option, with no end in sight for the fighting in the DRC.
“The war in the Congo, it is difficult to define. It is a very complex war. They are not fighting for the people’s interest, they are fighting for power, for greed,” said Muvwala.
“We do not know how it will end,” he said, spreading his hands, “but we hope”.
Despite his circumstances, Muvwala comes across as a cheerful man. He is known in the area affectionately as ‘Pastor’, which he said was simply a consequence of being “good to everyone”.