12 Dec 2016

Sese-born, Mr Thabiso Thokolo is a 32-year-old man who decided to use his hands to earn a living.

While he holds a Certificate in Secretarial Studies, Mr Thokolo said he had struggled to find a job.

He said he had to find a way to earn a living and working with his hands was the only way to earn a living.

“I had stayed home for four years after completion of my studies and one day while I was walking around in Jwaneng, I saw a man cleaning a yard in Unit 4 and I was intrigued,” he said.

Mr Thokolo said he walked up to the man and asked him a few questions about what he was doing. Upon hearing how much the man was earning to clean a yard once a week, Mr Thokolo said he decided to look for the same job.

It was in 2014 when Mr Thokolo got the job of cleaning yards.

He said he got the task to clean eight yards in Unit 1.

“From cleaning one yard a week, I would get P300 which means in a month I would have P2 400,” he said.

Eventually he got to work in two more yards and today he goes home with P3 000.

Mr Thokolo said although the job was energy-consuming, he appreciated the fact that he worked only twice a week. “I do five yards on Monday then another five on Wednesday,” he said.

The father of one said with the money he was able to provide for his family.

 “Even though money is never enough, I am not complaining,” he said.

Mr Thokolo said he was hopeful for a job that he was qualified for would eventually come up.

He said the challenges he faces in his gardening job was that he does not have the right equipment like sowing machine and chain sow which would make his job easier.

Mr Thokolo had encouraged those who were unemployed not to give up but look out for opportunities to earn a living.

Another individual who has commended gardening in Jwaneng is Mr Birthwell Kanyangare, a Zimbabwean national who also earns a living through gardening. He said he had seven houses, which he cleans and he was content.

“I am able to put food on the table and that is something,” he said. However, Mr Kanyangare says money was never enough which is why he was looking on increasing the number of yards he worked in as a way of raising the income. ENDS