I was born in a two-roomed house in Mofolo South, Soweto. When I tell most of my friends now that I grew up in a two-roomed house, they often assume I mean a two-bedroom house but no, I actually do mean a two-room house. Most houses in Soweto are two-bedroom houses with a lounge and a kitchen so even amongst the poor people of Soweto, our neighbourhood was the poorest. For a very long time there was a huge open space next to our small neighbourhood until in the mid-1990s someone decided to build new, “bonded” houses in that open space. I had never seen such beautiful houses in my life; they were big and really looked amazing.
I was in my teens when the new occupants moved into their new homes. I had never seen so much hostility directed at a people in my entire short life. The people who stayed in the “new houses” as they were called were ridiculed, ostracised and were made to feel guilty for buying houses in a beautiful neighbourhood with their hard-earned money. Most people in our neighbourhood almost felt like these people owed them something; how dare they move into our neighbourhood and display so much opulence when we were dying in poverty?
My friend, if you still think like this, you must change your thinking; contrary to what you might think nobody owes you anything. If you are to succeed in life, it is up to you and nobody else. Those people in the “new houses” did not owe us anything, it was not their fault that we were poor and they should never have felt guilty about their achievements. I really love this statement by Bill Gates: ‘If you are born poor it is not your fault but if you die poor it is”.
I now stay in a good area that looks far better than the “new houses” which were next to my neighbourhood in Mofolo South, Soweto. Approximately five kilometres away from my home there is an informal settlement. I often witness the hostility some of the people who stay in this informal settlement have towards me and my neighbours. I can tell that somehow some of them feel that we owe them something. Somehow they feel that we must offer them jobs, money, food or something and I can see it in some of their eyes that they feel they are entitled to get these from me and my neighbours. According to the South African Police Service (SAPS) officials in our area, most of the burglaries in our area are committed by our neighbours from this informal settlement. This does not surprise me at all, in fact this was the thinking when I was growing up in Mofolo South, some people felt that they must go and steal in the “new houses” because they “owe us”.
Unfortunately many people who believe that the world owe them something will never get out of poverty until they change that mind-set. Until you own something, you cannot change it. If you believe that the reason you are not losing weight is because of your family genes, you will never lose the weight (note to self).
Great Article. I hope to see more from you, Siphiwe. The world needs to hear you.
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