Johannesburg - When 25-year-old electrical engineer Tankiso Motaung stood on Grayston Drive in Sandton with a placard begging for a job from passing motorists, little did he know that his action would set social media ablaze.
All it took was a picture snapped by motorist Ashley Ball and posted on Facebook. Twenty minutes later, the picture showing Motaung – who was holding a placard that read, “I have BTech in electrical engineering PLS help. I need a Job” – had been shared more than 50 times.
A flurry of messages landed in Ball’s inbox, some asking for Motaung’s CV, others applauding his stance and the inspiration he gave job seekers.
Within two days, the picture had gone viral.
“I saw him standing there and I said, ‘Hang on’. I rolled down the window and the robot was green, but I wanted to take his picture,” said Ball.
“I thought he was not just begging for money or food. He was saying, ‘I’ve got the qualifications and I just need a job’.”
“I have been there, where you are jobless and you wake up every day wondering, ‘How am I going to pay the bills?’ “
“I spoke to him and he was unbelievably inspirational. I don’t think he realises how many people he has touched with this. The sad thing is the number of people in Sandton who drive past him and have the money and influence that could change his life.”
Motaung, who is from the town of Paul Roux in the Free State, has a qualification in electrical engineering from the Central University of Technology in Bloemfontein.
He was brought up by his grandmother after his mother died when he was 15. His mother had taught him that education was his only way out of the misery of poverty.
After completing his studies, he thought he had got his big break last year when he joined the Sasol graduate programme in Middelburg, but then came the bad news that the company was restructuring and could not hire him.
“They company decided it would take only BCom accounting graduates for permanent jobs,” he said.
“I lost out and I was devastated. I thought I had finally kissed poverty a goodbye, but it wasn’t meant to be.”
Motaung got a job late last year as a production foreman, but it didn’t go well. He spent three months fruitlessly searching for another job.
“I came back to Pretoria, where I live now, and decided to do something about my life. I saw in the news that school kids who wanted to go on a rugby trip had to fund-raise on street corners and they got a massive response.
“I thought I could do the same, so I set myself a target of a month to stand on the streets in Sandton looking for work.
“I have struggled far more and I thought this could not be the worst thing.”
Many on Facebook and Twitter applauded his tenacity.
Motaung’s phone has been ringing with calls from prospective employers, journalists lining up to interview him and people offering to help in whatever way they can. Motaung tapped his phone and read out statistics about job seekers in his field.
“It’s difficult, but 88 percent of people who got jobs did so through referrals. I don’t want to be part of the 12 percent, I want to swim with the big sharks, which explains why I chose to come here.”
Standing on the pavement he was sharing with a young mother asking for food and money, he said: “I see people begging on the street every day. I don’t want anybody’s money because if I do that, I will back here depending on the same handouts for ever.”
How can an electrical engineer be struggling to find a job, when research points to the dire shortage of skilled people? Motaung has been tallying the number of jobs advertised online and sending out his CV.
“I see more than enough jobs advertised online for engineers. We even have been importing engineers from Cuba. I nearly gave up hope but, deep down in my heart, I knew this wasn’t the time to do that.”
* If you would like to help Motaung find a job, he can be reached on 078 139 9302.
Saturday Star