In episode three of A Deeper Look, we meet Given Mhlanga, a 26-year-old street trader in Johannesburg. Mhlanga is one of many unregistered traders who have moved to the city to try to make a life.
He claims to have previously worked for someone else but now wishes to manage his own company. “I worked as a laborer for a construction business, and every month ended with a new narrative about salaries…it wasn’t for me…the work was too hard and stressful.”
Mhlanga took a break from construction to work at his family’s company in Thabazimbi, Limpopo, before deciding to strike out on his own in 2020.
Working as a street vendor is no small feat, it requires Given to work six days a week (Monday to Saturday) pushing eleven-hour-shifts each working day. He admits he would not have it any other way. “I have gotten so used to running my own business, and I want to continue working for myself.”
His stall is on a fairly busy road on one of Johannesburg’s northern suburbs, where there is both foot and motor vehicle traffic.
During my four days with Given, I noticed a cordial relationship with him and his customers. On one of the days his stock had ran out and he decided to knock-off 30 minutes early, but as he was pushing his wheelbarrow, a group of learners from a nearby high school wanted to buy something. He had to politely turn them away and explain to them that he had no more stock hence we was leaving early. The learners didn’t believe him asking him to show them if what they wanted was not available, he obliged. They later told him to get more stock for tomorrow.
Every work day, Given walks between his street shop and his residence, pushing a wheelbarrow with his daily stock to and fro from Kya Sands, an informal settlement in Johannesburg North. His rental shack is situated about three kilometers away from his place of business.
He says he wants his business to grow to a point where he has his own shop located where he stays so that he doesn’t have to come to the street everyday.
For more, see video below:
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