Skho makes a clean living
With the economy taking successive blows, a number of young men have resorted to alternative ways to make ends meet
POLOKWANE – One of these men, Gerald Skho Skhosana a 27-year-old car washer in Polokwane’s Central Business District (CBD), says after he dropped out of school in Gr 11, he had to find a way to earn a living as no one wanted to employ him without a matric certificate.
“I was brought to Polokwane two years ago by a friend who told me there was money to be made in the city and I have been washing cars since then,” he explains.
We use the money we make to buy food and pay rent but it does not sustain us all the time,” Skhosana tells BONUS.
According to Skhosana, the minimum rate they charge is R30 per car depending on how big the car is. He further says they usually only make money from the 15th to the second of each month. The rest of the time they have to scrape together what they can in order to survive.
When he was young, Skhosana dreamed of becoming a soldier but says he has given up on his dream. “I always wanted to be a soldier but I’m too old to join the military now. I’ve given up on my dream and accepted my life as it is,” he explains.
“Washing cars is the only way I can support myself without resorting to a life of crime,” Skhosana concludes.
