By Anita Dangazele
- Ottillia Mupanda runs a fruit and snack stall at Njoli taxi rank in Gqeberha and makes around R300 profit daily.
- The 47-year-old Zimbabwean refugee supports four children and 10 other relatives and pays R3,000 rent from her street vending income.
Mupanda wakes up before dawn six days a week. The 47-year-old mother from Masvingo in Zimbabwe runs her stall at Njoli taxi rank, one of Gqeberha’s busiest taxi ranks.
Every morning at 5.30 am her stall is ready. She works until 7 pm on weekdays. Saturday is also a working day. Sunday is her only day off.
She sells sweets, chips, peanuts, cigarettes, vegetables and super glue. On average she makes R300 profit a day. On good days she makes R500. On bad days it drops to R200.
From this income she pays R3,000 rent each month. She also funds her daughter’s studies at Nelson Mandela University. Her daughter is studying for a Bachelor of Education.
Her youngest son Oliver is in matric and helps at the stall after school. Her other two children are married and live in Zimbabwe.
She also looks after her late sister’s five children and five other relatives back home.
Mupanda came to South Africa and was granted refugee status in 2010. Before street vending she worked as a restaurant cleaner and domestic worker earning R3,000 a month. She got tired of the long hours and poor treatment.
“I decided to work for myself,” she said.
Now known by her nickname Mama Oliver, she works every day even when the weather doesn’t permit. When it rains she covers her goods with a large plastic sheet to keep them dry.
“My kids know this is our only income. If they don’t help, there’s no money for fees,” she said.
Pictured above: Ottillia Mupanda at her stall in Gqeberha.
Image source: Anita Dangazele
