He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother

TWO homeless brothers from Jozini have survived on the streets of Richards Bay for many years by sticking together and having each others backs.

They have managed to stay away from hard drugs and alcohol (only smoking dagga to keep warm) and survived winters, floods and physical abuse by being street smart.

Sipho (21) and Musa (39) Dlamini recently caught up with the Zululand Observer to help put life on the streets into perspective.

Sipho, who joined his brother after being kicked out of school in Grade 9 because of financial issues, is the only one of the two who speaks English.

His brother Musa cannot read, write or speak any English as he never had any formal schooling.

So while Sipho is the commuicator, Musa is the protector, using his experience on the streets to gather food, clothing and finding shelter for the pair.

‘We have tried to find piecework, but because Musa never went to school we can’t find anything,’ said Sipho.

‘People are also scared of us, which makes it hard to find work.’

Between the two of them they own just three outfits and work the University of Zululand and Veldenvlei Sports

Complex robots from 6am to 6pm, seven days a week.

‘On a good day we will make more than R100 between the two of us, but on a bad day less than R40. Sometimes we do not make anything and go hungry for two or three days.’

They use the bush as a toilet and wash infrequently in streams without the use of soap or shampoo.

When the sun sets, they find any ‘safe’ abandoned house, building or empty container to sleep in and try to keep warm.

‘We use ganja to escape the realities of our lives and it helps us to keep us warm.

‘We have seen people getting raped, murdered, beaten and robbed, but we keep our heads down and hide in the dark.

‘You can’t get a target on your back, you have to survive.’

Sipho and Musa’s parents are alive and live in Jozini, but are also homeless and have no source of income.

Their two sisters are married and look after other family members with their children, so cannot help them.

‘It’s the hunger that is hard to push through.’

Also read: The prince of the homeless