life under the bridge

While some of us live our lives and complain under warm roofs and over hot meals, I came across a group people whom have set camp under a bridge. It is reality that our country faces a big problem with housing and poverty. We have situations where some have come from rural areas to the city to work, so they build shacks or end up living on the streets. To monitor the homeless people and better their lives government started building RDP houses for the South Africans and are trying to get rid of shacks. The plan is not going as smooth, since some just rent out their RDP houses and build another shack in a different spot, or the government officials sell them to make profit.

While most south Africans wait for a better life, The homeless fill shopping carts or boxes with their belongings and from the time they wake up until they go to sleep their days are filled with trying to get together enough money to eat, and trying to find warm places to hang out while government and the police chase them away from deserted buildings and street corners. Homeless populations have become their own little families, in which they set-up among themselves and find ways of living. Being poor is like a little society on its own that we all know and see every day, on the street corner.

Shacks are known to be a South African “thing”. Shacks are made of zink, plastic and planks with cardboard and other materials that might keep the shack stable and standing. They aren’t the ideal home but millions of South Africans live like this because of their situations. Some have been kicked out of their homes, some grew up as street kids and others financial knock downs there are many explanations out there.

There is a group of people whom have set up camp under a bridge in a business area not far from Sydnham grave yard, on Grahmstown road. The squatters have decided to set up house under a bridge that is a train route; their shacks are right next to the train tracks. The train that rides on the train tracks every morning and afternoon, they don’t see this as a problem they know the train times and have never had any accidents. They live in a number of eight shacks that are all built right next to each other like flats, in total they are a number of twenty people including the most recent tenant, whom arrived two weeks ago Sandra. Sandra said she is originally from Kleinskool and is pregnant with her third child all children fatherless; she is at the age of twenty four now. She said the children never sleep hungry; she depends on the government grant money she gets and they survive. She manages the money by halving it between her and the children and half for the children’s needs. When asked if she was happy here she said; “we are happy here, we don’t sleep without food and we don’t get cold we are safe”.

The group of people sat there drinking black label beer talking about their daily activities, while some set up fire to cook and others doing some chores around the shacks. The guy who spotted the place known as “Mark”, they said he set up camp here last year and welcomes anyone whom comes along to join him that why they have extended the shacks into a longer row. They do not tolerate any badly behaved people, because they have become family. When doing the story he was at work and the others refused to say where he worked. These people all come from different backgrounds with many stories to tell unfortunately not all of them were willing to speak and others were at work, they stay as mixed races black, white and coloured no discrimination. They receive food and clothes from church comities that come every three to four months, they had no idea which church it was, but grateful for the help and prayers they were blessed with. To wash and do their washing they use water from the sydnham grave yard tap. They walk around the ice cream factory and fill their buckets with water.

One of the older guys that spoke said he had been to Forthare University and went as far as doing his thesis papers; he now lives here in old Grahmstown road at the back of Sydnham in a shack. His job now is at a recycling place called Chieks. They collect old metal scraps and take them to the Chieks yard to be recycled and that’s how he makes his money. He wouldn’t speak about what happened to his higher education and why he is now on the streets.