Schools 4 Schools South Africa Team Blog

Hope Emerging from a Sea of Unemployment

Over the last couple of weeks we’ve become friends with a group of dedicated young people who volunteer for an organization called Mayibuye. The organization engages disadvantaged young people in dance classes and life skills sessions-check out their website – http://www.mayibuyesouthafrica.org/About.html

Paul, Emily and I with the Mayibuye crew in Hammarsdale

We had a chance to visit Mayibuye, which is based in a township called Hammarsdale, located between Durban and Pietermaritzburg. The township is full of life and activity. There was however a key issue that emerged from our interactions with the Hammarsdale community… unemployment.

An ANC (political party) advertisment in Hammarsdale proposing that they will solve the unemployment problem and create jobs. (Photo by Emily)

One young man who I spoke to in Hammarsdale asked me if I had any ideas of how he could create a job for himself, as there simply wasn’t one for him. He had completed secondary school and tertiary studies, and yet was unable to find a job in his own community. He asked me whether he would be able to find a job in Australia. Aside from feeling totally inept to help him with the challenge of creating a job for himself, it saddened me to think that for young people from townships such as Hammarsdale, finding a job will very often mean leaving behind your friends, family and community and heading elsewhere for employment. The other alternative is finding a job in Durban or Pietermaritzburg (see map at the end of the post) This is however not a great alternative as the cost of public transport (taxis) for 7 days of work can sometimes equate to 80% of that week’s wage. And that’s not the only transportation challenge. The taxis stop running around 6 or 7pm. So what if you can’t leave your shift until 8pm? How will you get home?

But issues surrounding employment in South Africa are not just related to lack of job opportunity. Being employed in an area where jobs are scarce can also mean trouble. A higher demand for jobs often results in unequal power relationships between employers and employees. Over dinner on Wednesday, one of our friends, Nonhle was telling us about the traumas of her past jobs.  She has worked for employers who treated her like a second-class citizen and showed her no respect. They would yell and abuse her in front of customers and make her sweep the parking lot even though she was employed as a cash register attendant. She told us stories of colleagues who were instantly dismissed if they got held-up and money was stolen from their cash registers. The employer said to them, “It’s your fault your register was robbed, you should have taken more care.”

There are numerous stories of employers exploiting their workers in townships such as Hammarsdale. Just recently a protest with picket signs took place on the streets of Hammarsdale. The community members were protesting against a company who allegedly only employed people if they slept with the boss.

So what do you do? Stay in a job but lose your dignity and self-esteem? Or speak up for yourself as an individual with rights to equal treatment at the risk of losing your only source of income?

The aim of my blog today is not however to create a sense of despair. It is to share with you a message of hope. I have met so many amazing and innovative young people who are working in their South African communities to create a better future. Nonhle for example, has a wonderful business plan. She would like to start up a mobile library through Hammarsdale because currently the township only has 1 library, which many members of the community can’t get to because they can’t afford to catch a taxi.

The mobile library would be her very own business and she wouldn’t have horrible employers treating her like dirt. “When I have my own employees, I will treat them like family,” she told us. I couldn’t help but feel a strong sense of admiration for Nonhle and her courage to take on the hurdles that lay ahead of her in turning her vision into reality. Her determination not only to lift herself out of the unemployment crisis, but to take her community with her, is truly inspiring.

Location of Hammarsdale: