Durban - Standing in the sun in the parking lot of a Phoenix shopping complex, a young man holds tightly to his stack of pirated DVDs and CDs hoping to make enough money from sales to provide food for his impoverished family.
“People think I am a drug addict because I am thin and my clothes are tattered and torn, but no one knows the struggles I face,” said the 28-year-old, who declined to be named.
“It’s not easy waking up every day not knowing where our next meal is going to come from, but we somehow get by.”
He lives in a one-bedroom council flat in Phoenix with his unemployed wife, 27, and their four-year-old son.
“We don’t pay rent as the house was given to us by my parents, who have since died. We don’t have electricity because we cannot afford the bill and we cook and boil water on an open fire.”
The man dropped out of school at the age of 15 and did odd casual jobs to help support his parents.
“I was not doing well in school and left. My family also needed financial help as we were not well off, so I had to work.”
But as the years passed, finding a permanent job without a matric certificate, had become a tall order.
“I did part-time work as a
gardener and as a packer at a superette and earned little money.”
Two years ago, he began helping a friend to sell DVDs and CDs, priced between R10 to R20.
“I can make anything from R10 to R100 a day, but it all depends. With the money I earn, I buy more DVDs and CDs, and with the rest, I buy bread and other basic items for my family.
“I know selling pirated DVDs and CDs is wrong, and my items have been confiscated by the police before, but I have no choice. I am doing this to provide for my family.”
His biggest regret, he said, was dropping out of school.