Swallow your pride and just use your skills, advises Bra Fisher

Tendamudzimu Tshikovhi, commonly known as “Bra Fisher” from Khubvi village, is a typical example of how hardship and poverty can be turned around into something positive. The 33-year-old, who had been struggling to find a job for a long time, is quite eager to tell others how he one day decided to swallow his pride and use what he had to improve his circumstances.

Everything began three years ago when his friend gave him the hind leg of a slaughtered pig. “My friend had slaughtered a pig and offered me a piece, which I took home. The next morning, I collected dry firewood from the bushes and took it, along with the meat, a container with mealie maize, and pots, and went to sit next to the public road. There I made a fire and started cooking the meat, which I served with the pap. It sold like hotcakes, which gave me the courage to continue. I used the money I made on that first day to buy a live pig, which I slaughtered for selling. People became used to my spot next to the road and that was when I realised that we don’t all need formal employment to survive. I now wake up every day and go to my spot to sell cooked pork and pap, and things are looking up for me,” he said.

With the money he makes from selling pork and pap, he can support his wife and child, who is in the sixth grade at the moment. He says that, with load shedding and the frequent electricity cuts, selling cooked food is advantageous because many families do not have the time to prepare meals. Using firewood is also to his advantage as he does not have to spend anything on energy.

Bra Fisher urges those who are unemployed to stop being dependent on handouts and social grants. “It is unrealistic to think that the government should provide us all with jobs. The hand-outs and social grants are just small reliefs that will not cover our basic everyday needs. That is why we should all come up with a way to make an honest living,” he said.

Date:03 March 2024

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