Shayne Robinson’s daily vlog: Eking out a living on the streets
JOHANNESBURG – From flowers and wire zebras to cellphone covers and second-hand books, pretty much anything you want is available on the streets of Joburg.
Johannesburg truly is an amazing city, from it tree-lined suburbs to its gritty inner-city streets.
It is a city full of hope and optimism and its people always seem to figure out a way to make ends meet. At almost any robot in our city, you are more than likely to come across a hawker selling everything you could possibly need, including things you did not know you needed.
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Innocent, who did not want to give his full name, is 27 years old and is a flower seller on the corner of Rutland and Oxford roads in Rosebank. When he relocated to Johannesburg from Kranskop in KwaZulu Natal in 2005, he started selling the popular community newspaper, Homeless Talk on the streets. He then added the flowers to his stock and is making ends meet.
“It’s getting a little bit better now, I support my kids at home and my mom,” he said. “I also support my other son here and I pay my rent.”
Innocent is only one of hundreds of small entrepreneurs that are eking out a living on the city’s streets. City Buzz will be spending some more time on Johannesburg’s streets to bring you some more of their stories in the near future.
