- Vuyokazi earns up to R250 a day in tips but pays an agent up to R150 to keep her spot.
- Her two unemployed sons, aged 28 and 31, depend on the R370 Social Relief of Distress grant for basic needs.
Vuyokazi never thought she would spend her days watching over parked cars just to get by.
The mother in her mid-fifties does not qualify for an old age pension. She also cannot get the R370 Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant. And finding a job has been nearly impossible because of her age.
So she became a car guard at the Greenacres shopping centre parking lot.
On a good day she earns about R250 in tips. But most days it is closer to R150.
Even that money does not always stay in her pocket. She must pay an agent between R120 and R150 a day just to keep her spot. Some days she is left with almost nothing.
Vuyokazi lives with her two sons, aged 31 and 28. Both are unemployed and use the R370 SRD grant for toiletries and other basic needs. Her car-guarding income helps fill the gaps at home.
“We live in the house that my mother left me. I have a few back rooms that I rent out and because they are old shacks the rent is not much. I buy electricity and pay for the water. After that I am left with very little money to buy food. I started working as a car guard so that I can at least have money for meat and be able to buy bread,” she said.
The tips also mean she does not have to wait until the end of the month.
“The money helps a lot because I do not have to wait for month end to have money. When things run out, I am able to top up where I can,” she said.
But life at home is still hard. Vuyokazi says her sons are not always helpful and sometimes spend their grant money on drinking. Because of that, she often relies on rental income from the backyard rooms and her car-guarding tips to keep food on the table.
Pictured above: A car guard working in a parking lot.
Image source: Supplied
