He struggles to put food on the table

Asibhadaleni makhiwa literally translated (let’s pay my customers) is what the conductor said.

As usual we passed our five rand coins forward.

Men at work

Surprisingly the conductor kept on asking for his money.

Some thought he had miscalculated whereas some passengers just laughed thinking that he had gone crazy.

But he continued asking for his money .

He got very angry and told the driver that four people had not paid as his money had a$2 shortfall.

What surprised me is that every one kept looking at the back

Did it mean that all the people from the back seat had not paid their kombi fare?

I would have understood if only one person had not paid but four people.

I could smell a rat .

There was a motive behind every one from the same seat not paying.

Suddenly the driver stopped the car and asked with an annoyed voice for money from the back seat.

Asidlali lapha makhiwa, sisemsebenzini asilandanga kuzodlala la.Imuli zethu ziphila ngemali yonale eliyala layo(we are not playing here, can we have our money.)

One of the four men from the back seat replied in a manner which was communicating to the driver that he was inferior and said:

“We don’t pay in this kombi, it belongs to our relative, oh! by the way you are the new driver who took over from that one who was fired last week”.

“I don’t care who you are and where you come from; you have to pay”, replied the driver.

Suddenly a fist fight erupted

I don’t know how the kombi owner got to know about the fight

I just heard the driver saying yes sir over phone and he later apologized to the four men at the back seat who responded by smiling

I then wondered how the driver and the conductor survive with their families.

This incident made me to wonder where they get the money to support their families if they have a gazzeted amount that they should give their employees by the end of the day which in most cases is more than $US 50 whereas these days most people are unemployed which has resulted in a few people going to town.

Yet as women we never stop demanding even when we know that our husbands’ jobs are not paying.

We don’t care and simply opt for fancy expensive things other than affordable ones.

Men suffer