24 YEARS OF WORKING

September 2020 marks 24 years since I started working. When I was finishing A’Level in 1995, I started wondering again what career I would do. In my spare time I would walk from Dombotombo Township to Mutare road and walk all the way to Peterhouse College and back home looking at cars. I am fascinated with cars, I don’t hesitate buying cars. I would also go and see beautiful homes in Paradise Park Suburb. One day I went to buy chicken feed for my mother’s chicken project at Mascho Farmers’ shop, I saw a young man driving a brand new Nissan Sunny box. I was impressed by that young man 👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿

I asked what he did, he was working as a sales representative for manufacturing company in Harare. At that time I was also looking at vacancies trends in the Herald Newspapers. One job that was paying a lot was being a CA. I knew that for one to become a CA another route was to study BCompt with Unisa. I would cycle to town and teach Mathematics to Chipo Manhuwa for free she was going to rewrite O’Level Maths. Her father had these UNISA handbooks. I couldn’t afford UNISA fees.

When my results came early 1996, I first enrolled for IMM. Eventually by the time I got a job as a temporary teacher in September I then registered with CIMA and bought study materials and started studying. I was going to CIMA library along Nelson Mandela Avenue in Harare during school holidays and on weekends. I knew I needed to be in Harare. The clearest path for me was to go to Hillside teachers’ college in Bulawayo and train either as a science or maths teacher. I once considered it when I met a girl but when the relationship didn’t work out I was happy I had not applied to go to college.

In mid July 1997, I took a risk and left teaching where I earned about $2 600 and went to work in Harare as a printing apprentice earning $840 a months. In November 1997 the Zimbabwean dollar fell which meant I couldn’t afford to pay for my CIMA studies. Luckily I got a job as a Trainee Undewriter at Eagle Insurance Company then a Subsidiary of SA Eagle and it later became Zurich Financial services, we were all given our Swatch watches written Zurich after the merger 👌🏿My starting salary at Eagle was $3 000.00. I am so glad I took the risk to leave teaching and took that massive salary cut.

My employer paid for my insurance studies through Insurance Institute of South Africa. By mid 1999 I was at Diamond Insurance earning over $9 000.00 I was now bargaining🙈By April 2000 I was at AIG Zimbabwe earning $20 000, I could now afford to open a current account with Standard Chartered Bank 👌🏿2002 I became a manager at Zimbabwe Insurance Brokers. 2003 I completed my Associateship. 2004 I became an Underwriting Manager at Zimnat Lion Insurance. 2005 I completed my Fellowship exams. 2007 I left Zimbabwe and got a job on the 8th day of arriving in South Africa 👏🏿 In 2014, I eventually completed my BCompt degree with UNISA