The story of a hard-working builder
Yokuqhosha is the first word mister Sizwe Mnthembu said to me when I
interviewed him. He was very serious at first when we started speaking and I
was wondering about the state of mind he was in. But after only a few minutes
he softened his tone of voice and told me Pride is all about what he stands for
as a person. Sizwe was born on 29 March 1982 and is from a family of 6 and he
was raised on a farm just outside Soweto. He went to a rural Primary School,
Nhluhle Primary and after his father saw what he saw in himself he sent him to
a high school away from home as his father never gave him that opportunity.
Thus being in a fortunate position Sizwe graduated from Mhluhlekamula High
School outside Gauteng in 2000. His father mister Mnthembu was a very
emotionless father that didn’t show him any means of affection, but as Sizwe
explained this was the greatest gift his father could have given him. His
father’s main goal in his life was to let his roots follow down as Sizwe explained.
From a young age his father told him to take pride in anything he does, if it’s
for respect or any means of earning wealth. This closed off and the strict personality
of his father brushed off on Sizwe. As he told me I taught him how to be hardworking,
grateful and patient for what the future holds for him.
Fig 1. Sizwe preparing the foundations.
Thus being a semi-skilled worker which is defined as “A person who has
sufficient knowledge of a trade to do something simple or respective work with
help of simple tools” wasn’t an aspect that held him back to any extent. The
things Sizwe learnt from his father allowed him to develop and grow in the
field that he is so passionate about, and not only for being the fortunate
position of being taught by the people and seen as one of the best there is he
still stays a humble soft spoken young man. He told me as being the lead brick
layer of the company he is working for, he sees himself as one of the most
important individuals working on any construction project. As he explained,
what is the one aspect of a building that keeps the rain out, or is there
supporting the roof structure which allows people to sleep safely and
thankfully at night? It’s the wall, built up by every single individual
bricklayer. As he spoke with so much passion in the work his does, even though
we may think its so small it’s the most important aspect of any building, he
kept speaking about all of these superstructures he was working on and the way
his eye lit up, I saw every single aspect his father had taught him as a young
boy. Being grateful and hardworking to make a success in what you do and the
most important thing to take yokuqhosha in what you do.
Out of this wonderful experience interviewing this young man, and being the
a reflective set of mind I went out to let the group know of this experience
and told then what my new objective is going to be for this year. Your roots
are the most important aspect of who you grow up to be as an individual one
day, and I am determined never to lose what I have been taught and I am going
to live my roots out as Sizwe is; portraying what his father wanted him to be
and what my parents want me to become. Sizwe has showed me the importance of
hard work to become successful and I think every member in this group is can
achieve the most out of what they do. Sizwe’s life has been full of promise and
great achievement and the only thing that the future holds for him is bright
exciting times.
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