Everson Luhanga
At the family home of Philip Raphiri in Alexandra, Johannesburg, the smell of poverty, hunger and despair hangs in the air.
On a visit to see where Philip comes from and speak to his family, the Scrolla.Africa team found his sister, Esther Raphiri at the house. Philip’s mother had gone out to phanda for food.
The single-roomed brick house with one small window, serves the family as a bedroom, bathroom, dining room, kitchen and lounge.
There is no evidence of the rats that are found in almost all of Alexandra’s homes. The giant rodents have clearly stopped visiting Philip’s home as there is nothing for them to eat.
Esther, the 31-year-old mother of three children, agreed to speak to the Scrolla.Africa team.
“Drugs have destroyed our family,” she said.
“Two of my brothers were both drug addicts from a very young age. One of our brothers, Thema Raphiri died in December when he was hit by a speeding car while running away from Metro Cops.”
She said both her brothers have been arrested several times by the police for either dealing in drugs or stealing.
“Thema started using drugs at the age of 13. He dropped out of school in Grade four and went into drugs. Philip, our older brother, dropped out of school in Grade six. Things were so bad that even my mother asked for money from my brothers,” she said.
“We all knew they were robbing and terrorising innocent people ekasi, but we welcomed them with whatever they brought into the house. That was the only way we could go to bed with food in our stomachs.”
Esther said she survives on her children’s grants.
“Sometimes I fix people’s hair and let them pay me. But during lockdown level five, things were bad as people were not allowed to move. I had to rely on my children’s grant money,” she said.
