WINDHOEK – Many came to Windhoek with hopes of living a better life. For them, it is about survival of the fittest.
They hurriedly flock to every potential employer they see like bees would to honey, not worrying who is harmed in the process.
At times, they are forced to walk long distances and endure harsh weather conditions in the hope of finding work.
Days may come and go without any sign of getting casual work. But they do not give up because they have to find money to sustain themselves and their families. These are the men on the side of the roads.
“I left school when I was 18 years three years ago to come and look for work in Windhoek but life is just as difficult as it is in the north,” commented 21-year-old Andreas Shikongo, who hails from Epumbu village in Okahao.
Shikongo and 15 other men in the prime of their lives wait at the traffic lights at the intersection of David Meroro and Hendrick Witbooi avenues in Hochland Park. They say sometimes days go by without them getting offers for work.
Shikongo dropped out of school when he was in Grade 7. He says he did not see the point of going to school when he was constantly failing grades. Also, he says his parents, who are unemployed, could not afford to see him through school as they found it difficult to buy him school uniforms and school stationary.
“It is difficult for me to get money. As I am speaking to you now, there is no food at home. I rent a shack for which I have to pay N$200 each month,” Shikongo shares.
He wakes up at 06h00 every morning to prepare for “work”. “If I have taxi money, I take a taxi and I arrive here past 07h00. If not, I arrive at around 08h00,” adds Shikongo, who lives in Havana. He does not have children and so he only has to hustle for himself, he says.
“I don’t even have a girlfriend because women don’t want unemployed men,” he says. Shikongo says his only dream is to have a constant cash flow. “How can I have dreams if I am hungry? I struggle to get a permanent job so I just do casual work for which I am paid between N$100 and N$150 a day depending on the kind of work,” remarks Shikongo.
Thus far, Shikongo was contracted to pack things for people and clean yards, he says. “We are not always treated well. Sometimes people pick us up, use us and refuse to pay us,” Shikongo says.
“There are people who pick us up here and when we get to the place of work they start insulting us. If we insult them back they cast a spell on us to be unemployed,” 24-year-old Abner Moses chips in. He has been standing at the spot in search of work for five years.
“I am good at painting, pushing trolleys and cleaning the yard,” Moses says. In a month, he gets N$2 000 if he is lucky, he adds. In a year, he sends at least N$1 000 to his family in Okahao. Moses adds: “Although I don’t feel well that I have to beg for a job, I have no choice.”
Meanwhile, Huma Elago, a 31-year-old father of three children says the fact that he has to provide for his children and cohabiting girlfriend compels him to beg for a job in the hope of finding employment. He says he kept a permanent job for a year. But, that came to an end. “In a month, I earn up to N$3 500. It is not enough to help me and my family,” he says.
Elago, says he is a member of the ‘Men on the Side of the Road (MSR) Namibia organisation. “They (the organisation) don’t really help,” Elago said when asked if he has benefitted from the organisation.
Janet Wicks of the MSR organisation says there are many testimonies of people who found permanent work through the organisation.
“There are about 900 members currently,” Wicks said in response to questions from New Era this week.
Wicks said the organisation encourages potential employers, who pick up people from the different job sites to get in touch with the organisation. This, she explained, helps the organisation to link up their members with potential employers, as opposed to getting “total strangers” from the streets.
“Those are public places, and MSR cannot control who is there, it is not only MSR members. If it is at short notice, we ask employers to ask for the MSR membership card, and to make a note of the number. If any difficulty arises, or the employer would like to employ that person again, we can trace them through the number,” explained Wicks.
Currently, the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare does not have any programmes for the men on the side of the road.
But, this could change if Cabinet approves recommendations of a research the ministry undertook, shared Albius Mwiya, the Director of Labour Market Services in the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare.
Namibia has an 88.7 percent literacy rate of people 15 years and older, according to the Namibia Statistics Agency. The current official unemployment rate is just below 30 percent.