Many youths in the country find themselves between a rock and a hard place after they matriculate as very few jobs are available and even fewer have financial muscle for them to further their studies. No matter how hard the government-initiated campaigns try to teach the public, especially the youth, that crime does not pay, hunger and starvation continue to force many into joining underworld gangs. They end up committing crimes to sustain themselves, often leading to lengthy prison sentences.
Dzulani Trevor Sidogi, a young man from Tshipako village, right in the "bundu" of the Vhembe District, did not have money to continue with his studies when he completed his Grade 12, but he was not going to let this get the better of him. He could have given up, but instead he came up with a long-term plan that might one day generate an income for him. He was going to create an attraction park in his village.
"When I applied for the R350 Covid grant in 2019, I had to wait several months before it was approved and I started receiving the money. I received R1 400 payment in cash and used the money to buy stock to start a spaza shop, selling sweets, Simbas (chips) and chappies from my home," he said.
With the profit he made from the spaza shop, he decided to start the attraction park, but he still did not have all the materials he would need to begin this project. "I started buying cement and cut some trees to get logs from which I could create animal-like structures. I made an elephant and a giraffe from cement and other interesting objects from wire and whatever I could find, and planted different types of flowers to make the whole place look beautiful," said Sidogi.
Despite the fact that he is located in a rural area, where attracting tourists is difficult, people eventually started to visit the park. Now they come frequently. He does not, however, charge people yet to visit the park. "I rely on Good Samaritans for donations sometimes. But once I have enlarged it, I will have to charge adults for visits to the park. Kids under 12 years can come for free. I have a dream that this will be a very big park one day and it might also provide job opportunities for other youths in the village," he said.
Sidogi still hopes to further his studies at a tertiary institution someday. "I would like to be a land surveyor or an agricultural economist, but for now, there is nothing I can do about it as I don't have funds to go back to school," he concluded.