There is a South African adage which professes that a job is a job.
Yandisa Sihlobo from Gqeberha has made something with his life thanks to his profession of being a barber.
He started cutting hair when he was just 14.
Coming from a difficult background, Sihlobo said his grandmother, Nosipho, who was his primary caregiver as a child, had asked him to find a means of supporting himself.
He initially worked as a phone technician after school and at weekends in Lusikisiki, earning R150 a week. He later learnt how to cut hair.
Looking for greener pastures, he relocated to Gqeberha to cut hair in a salon, where he earned R3,500 a month, but after his salary was cut by R1,000, he worked as a taxi driver and returned to being a barber in 2018.
He now earns between R10,000 and R11,000 a month, owns two cars, has paid lobola and is happily married. “I believe this is my destiny. “My wife stopped me from committing suicide in 2020 — she found me with a rope [around] my neck ready to hang myself due to the [financial] effects of Covid-19.
“I could not provide for my family. I could not work, because of the lockdown. I was troubled by the fact that I had gone through so many hardships from a young age.
“Every time I tried to make something of myself, something would go wrong.
“This is my way of helping other less fortunate children.
“There are not a lot of role models in the location.
“I believe in ‘blessed is the hand that gives than the hand that receives’ and this is also my tithe to my God,” Sihlalo said.
Mosaic Community Development founder Estelle Kirstein, who also works in Walmer Township, said she had been shocked when she heard Sihlalo had offered to cut the children’s hair for nothing.
“I think he has a small fan club in me,” she said.
“The change from the children was beautiful — their postures after they got their haircuts changed.”
Source: https://www.pressreader.com/south-africa/weekend-post-south-africa/20220226/281599538947358
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