The one day I worked for a labour broker

On my way to Mamelodi January 2018

As so called black middle class, we pretend to be detached from the working class struggles such as the trade unions' fights against labour brokers and the shocking service from Metro Rail.  We lie to ourselves that we are not affected by these events. Beginning September 2017 after exactly 10 years in the same job I had a decision to make. Do I stop my piggery project in Zimbabwe that I had already invested over $20 000 and concentrate working here in South Africa? It was not a very difficult decision to make as I did not see any career growth prospects so the next day I started serving my 4 weeks’ notice. Running a project in Zimbabwe whilst staying in another country is a challenge and especially when it comes to money issues it becomes even trickier. When a customer pays when you are not there you might never see a cent. So every two weeks either I or my wife would go to Zimbabwe to make sure that we buy stock feed and monitor the project. I have seen many people in the diaspora sending money for projects such as building a house and only for money to be squandered by relatives. In 2010 we also lost about $1 000 meant for plumbing when a close relative ran away leaving our small children with workers at our house in Zimbabwe.

My late cousin spent more than a decade in the United Kingdom and he sent a haulage truck and money to buy cattle, residential stands etc. When he came back to Zimbabwe around 2010 he had nothing and had to start constructing a house in Chitungwiza and when he died a few years ago he had not done much construction at his house. So on 2 October 2017, on the day I finished serving my notice, I took a bus to Harare that night. Travelling by bus is the cheapest way to get to Harare from Pretoria as it costs around R400 as long as you have time. I would spend most of October in Mutoko and I managed to buy about 6 tonnes of maize bran at about 40% of the price I had paid to farmers nearer to Chivhu where my piggery project is located. That feed would last me about 2 months. After transporting the animal feed, I came back to concentrate on my small transport venture in South Africa.

In December 2017, I had about 2 dozens of pigs ready for market and the price I was getting from our local butcheries was around $3 per kg. At times it would take between 2 weeks to 2 months to get paid even though the butcheries would sell the pigs within a few days. In December 2017, there was a huge demand of pork, where some supermarkets would sell pork for around $9 per kg, however for us farmers we never got to benefit from this windfall. I know of many small scale producers who had to stop pig farming as the status quo only favoured retailers and not farmers. In February 2018, I decided to increase my production so that I could raise 600pigs per year with the aim of opening my own butcheries. I then decided to go back to work temporarily in order to help raise the required finance to buy butchery equipment. I responded to a six month contract position at a big financial institution through what I thought was an employment agent and this suited me very well.

In the second week of February 2018, I went for an interview at the big campus closer to Florida. Two days later the agent told me, I had done very well and the company wanted to hire me. I was not very sure if I wanted to go. The agent had indicated that I might start on Monday. On Friday morning I had an appointment to transport a load for a client in Pretoria East. The client then asked me if I could transport an urgent load to Zimbabwe that day. When you are self-employed you do not let work pass by. By early evening on Friday morning, I was on my way to Zimbabwe. On the Zimbabwean side, I really battled with tyre punctures as I was carrying a heavy load and I only reached Hwedza on Sunday morning. I then drove home to Zimre Park took a bath and drove to Chivhu to check on my piggery project and then drove back to South Africa.

After driving two nights without much sleep I ended up sleeping in Polokwane. Around 8am on Monday the agent phoned me and I was still in Polokwane. When I arrived in Pretoria she phoned me again and I told her that I was not sure if I wanted to take up the job offer. After discussing the issue further, I told her I would start work tomorrow. I took Gautrain to Park Station very early in the morning as I hate being late especially for work. There was no way, I would drive 130km every day to and from work and put that much mileage on any of my cars. I went to Reya Vaya bus station and they said they don’t have buses going there. I then went to Metro Rail wanting to buy a ticket to Florida and the ticket seller told me that the train was running late. My only option was to go to a mini bus taxi. Given my experience with taxi drivers, I avoid them like a plague. I arrived at work around 07:30am and waited for human resources. I had to sign a few declaration forms but there was no employment contract.I ended up discussing with one of the guys who had started a few weeks earlier who informed me that the bank had a huge backlog and had employed a lot of contract workers and more were on their way.

I would spend the day in the claims department with a kind gentleman who was showing me the systems. The agent also phoned me and confirmed that she had e-mailed me the employment contract and this was a bit strange why the agent and not the bank was giving me the contract. After work, I ran 3km to Florida station to catch the Metro Rail train to Park Station. I can write books about my experience with Metro Rail shocking service as I used it almost every day from Pretoria Central to Mamelodi and then run 5km to Pretoria East and vice versa in the evening from November 2017 until March 2018 when I was self-employed. The way Prasa runs the commuter train service is pathetic; they do not care about passengers as well as the safety of their staff. I feel sorry for tens of thousands of commuters from Mamelodi who are now suffering ever since Metro Rail suspended the service. Some of these commuters are students, unemployed, factory workers, security guards, domestic workers etc. who are mostly people who are on minimum wage. A six day week monthly taxi fare costs around R720 whereas  a monthly train ticket costs about R160 and for a person on a minimum wage or unemployed that is a huge difference. In January 2018 Menlyn Taxi association increased their fees by 25% and they will be increasing again due to high fuel prices you can see the that the inflation for poor people is much more than the official rate of inflation.

After arriving at Florida station I had to ask fellow passengers about the expected arrival of the train since metro rail do not operate like Gautrain and they never inform any passengers about anything and you have to rely on the information from fellow passengers. The train soon approached around 5pm and we arrived at Park Station around 5:30pm and I disembarked from the train and I started asking where I could get the Pretoria train and they pointed out that the train I had disembarked was actually the express train to Pretoria. I quickly rushed back. The train started moving and skipping a lot of the stations until we got to Kempton Park and it started stopping for longer periods without explanation. At a bushy area around Olifantsfontein it stopped for close to an hour and we just waited. I asked fellow passengers and they said that was the norm and even in the morning it would behave that way.  I only arrived in Pretoria after 9pm and by that time my phone battery had run out and maNyoni was worried about my whereabouts. luckily in Sunnyside businesses open very late e.g. our Shoprite store opens from 6am to 11pm Monday to Saturday.

I rushed to the internet cafe’ and printed the employment contract. I have been in the insurance industry now for 20 years and I am also currently a law student and one thing I understand in this life is a contract I don’t just sign anything. I remember some years ago when I had to sign a lease agreement I had to ask the land lord to amend a few clauses. Reading the employment contract from the first page onwards, I realised that it did not comply with the Basic Conditions of Employment Act. I then wrote an e-mail to the agent pointing all these deficiencies in her contract and also informed her that I would not be signing it and I was no longer interested in the position. I gathered if the bank really wanted my services they would employ me directly and not through some labour broker who had no clue and would get a large portion of my salary and for what? The next morning I still woke very early as usual and caught a train to Mamelodi to continue with my usual schedule instead of going to Florida