By Buziwe Nocuze
- The 40-year-old woman charges R500 to coat a one-room flat if the customer provides the mud needed for the job.
- She gets more customers during the rainy season because rain damages houses and they need coating even if only outside.
A 40-year-old woman from Lusikisiki in the Eastern Cape started a mud house coating business after losing her job last year.
The woman was working in a food container before the municipality destroyed it. She said the municipality told them the containers were making the town dirty.
“I was delivering takeaways to customers, cleaning, and washing dishes,” she said.
She said starting the coating job was not easy.
“It is not an easy job because sometimes I start by fetching water before coating. I do everything myself. But I cannot complain because everyone is working hard out there to take care of themselves or their families,” she said.
The woman knew she needed to be the best to get more jobs.
“Doing this job needs someone to be the best because you can easily be replaced if you are not doing a good job. Coating inside the house doesn’t really need the weather to be hot, you can do it even if it is raining, but you cannot do that outside,” she said.
She charges R500 to coat a one-room flat if the customer provides the mud. If she does the mud and coating for a two-roomed flat, she charges R1,000.
“We have people who are doing mud only and no coating. Times are tough and everyone is trying to get money to buy food for their families,” she said.
The woman said her main priority is buying food.
“For now the main priority is buying food because no one can go to bed with an empty stomach. You are not able to communicate with your stomach that there’s no food. One needs to work hard to get money to buy food,” she said.
She gets more customers during the rainy season.
“Rain damages the houses and they always need coating, even if it is only outside. I charge R250 for inside only and R250 for outside. I respect my job and always finish it on time because it is what puts food on the table for my family,” she said.
Pictured above: A mud house.
Image source: Pexels
