Wheelchair-bound tout defies odds

Vincent Gono in Masvingo Features Editor
CERTAIN occupations require a lot of mobility and agility. They do not require people with certain handicaps but a 21-year-old Masvingo wheelchair bound tout has defied the odds. He is confined to the wheelchair and has been disabled since he was born but that has not been a drawback in his quest to get something to help his situation that he says is not so rosy.

As if to agonise on his condition his parents gave him the name Kudakwashe loosely translated to mean the Lord’s will, while his surname is Nemera. He is known to his peers as just Kuda, a simple and shortened version of his full name and is perhaps the only one if not among the few doing such a job in the country.

His work station is an illegal pick up point at Old Croco Motors garage along the busy Masvingo-Harare Road where cars to such destinations as Harare, Bulawayo, Mashava, Zvishavane and Gweru are found. And his work too is illegal. His life therefore revolves around illegalities.

“Because of my little mobility I load cars that take Great Zimbabwe University (GZU) students to Mashava campus and if they are not there I then load those going to Zvishavane, Bulawayo, Harare or Gweru. These however, are a little more difficult for me because of my condition as they will not stop at a single place for fear of them being arrested since this is an illegal pick-up point and police, both ZRP and municipal, are always milling around to enforce city council by-laws,” he said.

He added that their job was not that of loading cars only, but they would also be on high alert and often raises alarm whenever police were approaching and drivers will take off and come back later.

“It’s like we know most of the police officers and these municipal guys. And even when they come in civvy (civilian clothes) we know them but the motorists don’t. So we raise alarm if a motorist stops when the police are there. There is a certain lingo that we use that those who are in the business of pirating are quite familiar with,” said Nemera before calling out nyuchi nyuchi nyuchi and all of a sudden the cars that were loading sped off.

Nyuchi is Shona for bees and in their lingo it refers to the police, either the ZRP or the traffic municipal police officers.

The interview with Nemera was somehow difficult because it required a lot of patience as it was often interrupted by his line of duty. In between, he would rush to load cars and was always looking out for police officers.

His duty also requires strength. It involves welcoming travellers to their station and welcoming comes with the added role of assisting them carry and load the luggage in the cars. He admitted however, that this was a little more challenging if the luggage was heavy.

“My brother, there are people who travel with hordes of bags. And the bags will be heavy like they are full of stones. That is one of my biggest challenges in doing in this job. People always follow where their luggage is and if these guys (his peers) run first then I will not get anything. I will only wait for those that will not have too much luggage or small bags,” he said.

He added that in a good day he gets off with $10 or more depending of course on the time he would have started.

Although highlighting that it was a dog eat dog environment where only the fit can survive, Nemera competes very well with his able bodied young peers for clients so that he gets a dollar or whatever amount they would have agreed with the motorists who sometimes negotiate although the unwritten contract is that the tout gets a person’s fare to the destination that he would have loaded for.

But according to him some motorists who are rude take off at high speed when their cars are loaded without giving him a cent while those with a heart would even give him an extra penny as a gesture of sympathy.

Interestingly however, his condition does not make him behave any different from those that are in the same world of touting who are known for abusing drugs, their lack of respect and for worshipping the world of obscenities and where taboo is normal.

This is despite the fact that from the outside Nemera is very unassuming and gentle, almost quite calm and innocent, one who deserves unsolicited help. Those that know him better say he is like the top layer of porridge in a plate that looks edible beneath which lies the hot surface.

They say he, like them, also abuses drugs and sometimes goes to the Civic Centre gardens to take a nap when he gets high and comes back later.

“You are looking for Kuda? He was drunk I think, and when he is drunk he goes and sleeps at the Civic Centre and comes back a little later. Or you can check him in that soccer betting shop,” said his colleague who refused to be named.

He said they work well with him but often chide him like they do with any of their colleagues adding that they were different from other touts in town in that they were not so raucous but respect human dignity and customers’ choice.

However, Kuda refuted allegations of drug abuse though he confirmed that he often bets on soccer and sometimes wins.

Moreover, he is also a holder of an electronics professional certificate obtained in 2014 but never used it. And like many of his age, after trying his luck in the local job market and failing, he joined the great trek to South Africa where things were no better as he was harassed and threatened by the employer each time he asked for his dues probably taking advantage of his condition.

He came back and joined the growing touting industry that is fed by the proliferation of relatively cheap Japanese cars that is coupled by closure of industries.

“It is shocking that in this day and age some people find it difficult to accept us as human beings equal to others, they look at us as pitiable objects. They don’t think we have feelings or sexual feelings.

“I am not yet married but my parents who are in rural Chivi need help. I have to see to it that I give them the support. They are poor but they did everything to help me go to school and now I live in Mucheke with my mother’s sister who is a vendor. She sells packaging plastic bags at the entrance of one of these big supermarkets in town and I am supplementing the little income she gets from that,” said Nemera.

He admitted that society had bungled the touts and painted them as unruly societal misfits while some say they look like they are born of the same mother because of the similar attributes and character.

At Old Croco, he said, they were working to debunk that notion, adding that most of the touts at the illegal pick up point were college graduates who were failing to secure employment in the shrinking economy while some were affected by the three-months notice termination of contract that saw companies offloading thousands of workers after it was given the nod by the courts.

He appealed to the donor community for help so that he realises his dream of opening a shop where he can do his electronic gadget repairs.