Bonginkosi Khanyile sometimes wanders to the edge of his family’s stand in Umlazi’s P Section. He dare not venture further.He is waiting again.At 19, fresh out of school, Khanyile had a clear idea of how to escape the poverty of P Section, a township just outside Durban. He started off small, breaking into his former high school’s tuck shop. This was training for the big time — his older brother was known in the township for stealing cars.
Bonginkosi Khanyile’s three-year house arrest at his aunt’s home in Umlazi has not extinguished his fervour. Khanyile’s sentence also requires him to do eight hours of community service a month. On Wednesdays and Saturdays from 8am to 12pm he does this through his church. He cooks for street children and washes dishes. He finds this meaningful because he is able to spend time with the “downtrodden and marginalised”, something he considers his calling.
“We have been protesting for our entire lives even before #FeesMustFall, so now I can’t even be in a march, I can’t address people, I can’t plot, I can’t be seen in political gatherings unless I’m approved and even when approved I’m not allowed to do anything. So we are banned from political activism. I miss the engagements,” he says.Wake up. Eat. Bath. Sweep the yard. Watch TV. Eat. Study. Sleep. Repeat.For Khanyile, studying and reading books gets him through his days. As does thinking.
“She sometimes asks, ‘Kuyobuye kulunge nje mtanami? [Will things ever get right my child?]’ and it’s then that I can see that she is very tired of poverty and she probably thinks she might even die without eating the fruits of a son who she thought would get her out of poverty and buy her a house,” says Khanyile.
Shame men. Some got awards and other a going to get a parlament seat.
He was a vandal they studied. Surprise surprise...
Good that's what he deserved. I hope he remains unemployed. He is a criminal.
another person with a criminal record aiming at filling a spot in public service - I'm so surprised.