By Buziwe Nocuze
- The man got retrenched two years ago and bought a bicycle for R1,800 to deliver groceries to customers in Flagstaff.
- He charges R40 for town deliveries and R80 for villages, doing more than five deliveries daily to support his family.
A man from Flagstaff in the Eastern Cape got retrenched two years ago. He used part of his retrenchment payout to buy a bicycle for R1,800.
He wakes up at 05:30 every day, checks messages from customers on WhatsApp and goes to town.
“I queue in the shops for the groceries that my clients want and deliver them. That’s what I do the entire day until 17:00,” he said.
He stops work at 17:00 to avoid putting his life in danger. He plans to increase his prices for rural areas because he spends more time in the shops and on the road there.
“I am a family man so I knew that at some point the retrenchment money would get finished. When it does I was not going to be able to take care of my family, hence I chose to buy a bicycle and do deliveries and groceries for those who are unable to go to town,” he said.
The man charges R40 for deliveries in town and R80 for deliveries to villages. He does more than five deliveries a day. Sometimes he makes more than R2,000.
Customers phone him and send their shopping lists on WhatsApp. For customers who need medication from the pharmacy, he collects the pharmacy note and ID number. Some give him ID copies.
“I don’t know their medication. My job is to collect and deliver,” he said.
He said he can take care of his family even though there are challenges. When the weather is bad, he does not make money. There is also a risk of getting robbed of deliveries and losing his bicycle.
Pictured above: Man on bicycle.
Image source: Pexels
