Ever heard of the Big Issue magazine? This is a great organization which was started in 1997 to support homeless, marginalised and unemployed people in Cape Town to earn a living. They produce a monthly magazine which one can buy from their offices to sell at traffic lights. The biggest campaign they have going is the Vendor Training Programme and Social Support Programme. Vendors and their families have access to guidance counselling as well as to social support services. These programmes also offer skills development and training to equip vendors to improve their sales techniques, their personal and product presentation to improve sales, their cash-flow management skills, and other life skills in support of being micro-entrepreneurs. Sive Mondile happens to be one of these vendors in this programme. This is his story.
ABOUT SIVE
Sive Mondile is a 26 year old man originally from Cofimvaba Eastern Cape. He arrived in Cape Town in 2014 after having no choice but to drop out of school in grade 8 to support his younger siblings and grandfather. He came to Cape Town looking for work and greener pastures. He grew up without his parents, unfortunately his mother passed away when he was young and was raised by his grandfather. He has no connection to his father or that side of the family. When he arrived in Cape Town, Sive met up with Zuko Pholo, another courageous Big Issue vendor who also happens to be his mentor. He did odd jobs for a year and around early 2015 Zuko convinced Sive to become self-employed by joining him in selling The Big Issue.
SIVE’S FUTURE PLANS
By joining the programme and selling Big Issue magazine, Sive has been able to provide for his family as he hoped. He is his family’s sole breadwinner and the income he is currently earning is enough at this moment to support them all. His big wish, however, is to save some money to improve his future through furthering his education. When he was younger, Sive wanted to be an engineer. He could not pursue that dream because of his home circumstances. Now that he has the opportunity, he is determined to return to high school and afterwards enrol at a tertiary institution. He knows that he will not be able to support his family on this salary forever, therefore going back to school and receiving his degree will be advantageous for him and his family.
You can find Sive at Long Beach Mall in Sun Valley Noordhoek if you would like to purchase The Big Issue from him and help support him. Also, check out our WanderfullySo website for awesome virtual experiences. If you would like a custom virtual tour please feel free to reach out to us and let us know. You can also book a free Concierge Session with us and let us take care of all your travel needs.
