‘I am not a criminal, I make my living on the streets’
Rolid Moyo is a 24-year-old man who came to the country, in his own words, to have the South African dream so many are living today.
POLOKWANE – He left his homeland, Zimbabwe, a few years ago in search of a better future and makes a living on the city’s streets.
“The South African dream is a simple dream. It gives a man the opportunity to look after his wife and a child or two, work every day and come back to the house he rents where he can have the benefit of his own possessions,” Moyo describes the dream he is chasing.
He sleeps wherever he finds a spot – in an open field, or in a vacant building, if he’s lucky.
Asked why he came to the country knowing he’d sleeps on the street, he responds that South Africans are generous in sharing food, as opposed to in his own country.
“We don’t have food in Zimbabwe. The difference here is that there are people willing to give food to strangers on the street.”
It is for this reason, says Moyo, that many of his countrymen come here in search of greener pastures – “knowing we will at least have a slice of bread to eat”.
In this regard, he mentions Meals on Wheels, which he says often passes the area where he operates from.
“I used to drink water at closeby filling stations but this does not often happen anymore as they now charge us to enter the ablution facilities.”
Where possible, Moyo tries to get small jobs like paint jobs or helping people move, but most of the time he spends his hours guarding vehicles as a car guard at a shopping centre in the city, or gathering secondhand materials from rubbish bins before selling it.
Moyo maintains his intentions are honest: “I’m not a criminal and I do not want to steal anything. I just want someone to help me get a job and make a living so that I can start my own South African dream”.
