A man with a polished career

The Rhodesia Herald 

18 February 1978

THE First Street shoe-shiner is an institution in Salisbury. With an estimated 350 000 pairs of shining shoes to his credit, he should be. 

Nearly 17 years ago, Mr. Stanford Kabudura was crippled for life in a car accident, and turned into shoe-shining for a living.  For 11 years, the quiet, genial man sat on his stool outside folds the old Palace Bar the corner of First Street and Union Avenue, polishing shoes. 

Five years ago, he moved along the street towards the intersection with Baker Avenue, where he is today. 

In the old days, he said yesterday, business was good, but now he is just making out.  “There are no customers now,” he said, “At the Palace corner I sometimes got five pounds a day, but wow $1,50, maybe two dollars” 

But Mr Kabudura likes his job. “l know many people on this street,” he said. As l spoke to him, several passers-by greeted him or waved.  Most knew his name. “They are all my friends,” he said. Mr Kabudura charges 10c for a polish and shine, the same as the price he charged 16 years ago. 

Inflation, it seems, has not occurred to him. “The charge is alright”, he said confidently. His only overheads are the costs of his brushes and, of course, the polish. Unable to walk very far, he takes a bus to and from work, another overhead of 72 cents a week.