News / Local
Man is regretting the day he packed his bags and left for SA
21 Jul 2024 at 10:31hrs | Views
A 45-year-old Bulawayo man is regretting the day he packed his bags and left for neighbouring South Africa in search of what he thought could be life-transforming opportunities.
All he carried then were dreams, aspirations that were inspired by nice cars with GP and LP suffixed vehicle registration numbers with powerful sound systems that those in the neighbourhood who had crossed the Limpopo River ahead of him would bring home usually in December.
Fate would, however, have none of that, at least for him as 25 years later, life refused to land him in the proverbial Canaan he envisaged. Perhaps what he perceived as a below-standard life at the time he left was probably his best compared to what he faced after leaving home.
Could it be a tale of wages of sin, bad luck, spiritual misfortunes or ancestors turning their backs on him?
Whatever one believes it is, the truth is that Zibusiso Sibanda has become a regular face at the corner of 11th Avenue and Josiah Tongogara Street in Bulawayo.
He is part of a handful of men who have ventured into the business of washing and looking after cars that park within the area. The street still offers free parking and has been very convenient to those who do not have the parking fee that is now mandatory in the other parts of the Central Business District.
Having been a regular car washer and parking marshal for more than six months, what draws attention to him is his age, he is probably too old for such types of errands that are usually for much younger ones who will be looking for a living.
"My name is Zibusiso Sibanda and I am 45. I went to South Africa in 1998 to look for better life opportunities. When I got to South Africa I started doing various jobs including working in restaurants. Lady Lucky was, however, not really been smiling at me often as I was always in and out of prison for things like not having proper documentation among others. I couldn't keep the many jobs that I got owing to the arrests and detention.
"The last straw that cracked my back was in the last few years of my stay. I was found with what was suspected to be stolen property. I couldn't account for it through receipts and I was arrested and placed on remand for several years," he said.
He was later sentenced to eight years in prison, a development which he believes immediately ruined his life as his parents were to all pass on while he was behind bars."When I left the country, my mother and father were staying at our family house in Magwegwe North.
I later benefited from a parole that would see me getting out of prison and being deported last year. When I got back, I was informed that my mother had passed on in 2019 and my father the following year in 2020. I was told that when my father fell ill in 2020 he sold the house. So when I came, I had nowhere to stay and I had nothing on me since I was coming from prison.
I then opted to stay on the streets behind Bulawayo Central Police Station," said Sibanda. When asked if he had no relatives, he said one of his siblings was in the city and working in a restaurant but could not help him citing incapacitation.
He said he cannot raise enough money to pay rentals as the little he makes every day is gobbled by his daily needs such as food. "My brother is around but cannot help me. I am pleading for help to raise US$50 to get a room to rent because it is freezing out here, besides I am too old to be living the life that I am living but I have no choice. If I get a room I can sustain myself from the little money I am getting from washing cars," said Sibanda.
Sibanda said while he might have been involved in crime when he was in South Africa at the early stage of his life, he has since grown out of it and is mature enough to know how bad it is to live a life of crime. He said prison life has taught him some hard life lessons.
"South African prisons taught me life the hard way. In the last few years, the number of prisoners increased and we could even sleep in the toilets as the cells were full. I am, however, a changed man now and I will be very grateful to any well-wisher who can give me employment and shelter," said Sibanda.
All he carried then were dreams, aspirations that were inspired by nice cars with GP and LP suffixed vehicle registration numbers with powerful sound systems that those in the neighbourhood who had crossed the Limpopo River ahead of him would bring home usually in December.
Fate would, however, have none of that, at least for him as 25 years later, life refused to land him in the proverbial Canaan he envisaged. Perhaps what he perceived as a below-standard life at the time he left was probably his best compared to what he faced after leaving home.
Could it be a tale of wages of sin, bad luck, spiritual misfortunes or ancestors turning their backs on him?
Whatever one believes it is, the truth is that Zibusiso Sibanda has become a regular face at the corner of 11th Avenue and Josiah Tongogara Street in Bulawayo.
He is part of a handful of men who have ventured into the business of washing and looking after cars that park within the area. The street still offers free parking and has been very convenient to those who do not have the parking fee that is now mandatory in the other parts of the Central Business District.
Having been a regular car washer and parking marshal for more than six months, what draws attention to him is his age, he is probably too old for such types of errands that are usually for much younger ones who will be looking for a living.
"My name is Zibusiso Sibanda and I am 45. I went to South Africa in 1998 to look for better life opportunities. When I got to South Africa I started doing various jobs including working in restaurants. Lady Lucky was, however, not really been smiling at me often as I was always in and out of prison for things like not having proper documentation among others. I couldn't keep the many jobs that I got owing to the arrests and detention.
He was later sentenced to eight years in prison, a development which he believes immediately ruined his life as his parents were to all pass on while he was behind bars."When I left the country, my mother and father were staying at our family house in Magwegwe North.
I later benefited from a parole that would see me getting out of prison and being deported last year. When I got back, I was informed that my mother had passed on in 2019 and my father the following year in 2020. I was told that when my father fell ill in 2020 he sold the house. So when I came, I had nowhere to stay and I had nothing on me since I was coming from prison.
I then opted to stay on the streets behind Bulawayo Central Police Station," said Sibanda. When asked if he had no relatives, he said one of his siblings was in the city and working in a restaurant but could not help him citing incapacitation.
He said he cannot raise enough money to pay rentals as the little he makes every day is gobbled by his daily needs such as food. "My brother is around but cannot help me. I am pleading for help to raise US$50 to get a room to rent because it is freezing out here, besides I am too old to be living the life that I am living but I have no choice. If I get a room I can sustain myself from the little money I am getting from washing cars," said Sibanda.
Sibanda said while he might have been involved in crime when he was in South Africa at the early stage of his life, he has since grown out of it and is mature enough to know how bad it is to live a life of crime. He said prison life has taught him some hard life lessons.
"South African prisons taught me life the hard way. In the last few years, the number of prisoners increased and we could even sleep in the toilets as the cells were full. I am, however, a changed man now and I will be very grateful to any well-wisher who can give me employment and shelter," said Sibanda.
Source - The Sunday News
