Durban - Three times a week, a Chatsworth mother goes door to door selling steel wool, pegs and hair accessories, hoping to make enough money to at least buy her family a loaf of bread.
The 44-year-old, who has been unable to secure a full-time job, declined to be named.
The woman, who also sells the vegetables she grows outside her RDP house in Welbedacht to generate an income, has two children.
Her husband, 43, is also unemployed.
“I tried to sell the vegetables by going door to door but was not making enough money, so I ended up buying steel wool, pegs and hair clips to sell. This business is a little better.”
To further supplement their household income, her husband runs a home-based tuckshop.
“We make about R50 profit a day from the tuckshop and about R70 from my business during the week. Other than food, we still have to pay for electricity.”
She added: “People think we are using the money for drugs and alcohol but it is being used to put bread on our table.”
The woman said without a qualification, she struggled to secure a job and could barely afford to maintain their home.
“Our home is crumbling. The walls are cracked and the roof leaks when it rains. I want a better life as we cannot live like this anymore. But it looks as if this is life for us.”