Rickshaw family ’ s future bleak
ROUTE NO LONGER PROFITABLE
HE PUT seven children through school driving a rickshaw on Durban’s South Beach.
Now John Ndwandwe, 68, is struggling to keep food on the table, using what can only be described as a family business.
“I don ’ t remember when I started pulling the rickshaw. I was still a boy,” Ndwandwe said.
He was taught by his older brother, who was taught by their father, who was taught by their grandfather.
Now Ndwandwe just taught one of his sons, 24-year-old Sabelo, the art of pulling a rickshaw so the family business can continue.
Pulled rickshaws is a speciality one can enjoy only in Durban, KwaZuluNatal. It was introduced to the city, in 1893, by Sir Marshall Campbell from London and was widely popular in the 1920s.
Wearing a very heavy and heavily decorated head piece, the driver of a rickshaw walks passengers sitting on a two-wheeled carriage.
The charge for a local ride, less than a kilometre distance, is R40 per person. From the Tropicana Hotel to uShaka Marine World is R70.
That same fee will get you to the Sun Coast Casino from the Tropicana Hotel. Those wanting a ride from uShaka Marine World to the casino will pay R250.
An additional R10 is charged if one wants a picture taken on the rickshaw.
Despite these travelling fees, Ndwandwe said these days he hardly gets to go home to KwaNongoma, some three hours away, because he often does not have enough money.
“Sometimes a whole day goes by without getting any customers. It gets busier in December, but we don ’ t get supported like we used to,” Ndwandwe said of the dying art.
This is the only way he knows how to make a living.
Ndwandwe came to Durban looking for a better life when he was in his 20s. He did not get a formal education, but learnt to make a living using his grandfather ’ s rickshaw.
“The rickshaw belonged to my grandfather and I have it now, so I ’ ve maintained it over the years.”
Through this business he has survived into his 60s and raised eight children, but one has since died.
Ndwandwe said there were 25 other rickshaw operators on South Beach, which makes earning a living even more difficult.
He said there is more money to be made at uShaka Marine World, but only four rickshaw operators are allowed there.
“I ’ m fighting for them to rotate us so that we can all get a chance to make some money.”
If not, the family business that has served them well for decades will soon have to shut down.
Sabelo, who started working the rickshaw last year, said he ’ d love to continue, but if things don ’ t pick up he will be forced to move on and find a steady job.
“I would also love to teach my children, if I ’ m still in the business, when that time comes,” Sabelo said.
In the meantime, the Ndwandwe family are holding on to the hope that they could get a share in the fortunes at uShaka Marine World.