januari - deBuren

Poverty mentality - by Sophie Smith
A woolly head of dreadlocks, old dirty brown trousers tucked
into large gumboots and wheelbarrow loaded with all sorts
of strange scavenged goods. If Rooiland Nangu walked
past you on his regular route down Fitzroy Street, you would
hardly believe that this man was wealthy. But he is.
At seventy seven years old Rooiland can regale any audience
who can understand him with fascinating stories
about his past. One of these stories is the tale of how he
came to live where he does.
After working all over South Africa, Rooiland came to
Grahamstown to work in a tannery for a man called Mr
Mentz however there came a time when his employer chose
to leave South Africa. On leaving the country, Mr Mentz
left his cows, his land and the old tannery building to
Rooiland.
In addition to this Mr Mentz left Rooiland a large amount of
money in a bank account but Rooiland doesn’t trust banks
and has decided to make do with his monthly pension grant
without ever needing to use the money left to him. He is
determined that when he dies the money and all his possessions
will go to his five year old Andile, the youngest of
seven children.
And so Rooiland lives from day to day, a rich man, making
do on the bare minimum. While Rooiland busies himself
with daily chores like tending to his cows, cooking, and
fetching water, he is constantly on the lookout for thieves
who vandalise and steal his property.
He blames his neighbouring relatives for this, saying that
they are jealous of his good fortune however he maintains
that he is not a rich man. He hides his money under rocks,
his clothes in trees and after his monthly shopping trips is
too afraid to keep his food in his house for fear of it getting
stolen so he leaves it with a friend who lives on Fitzroy
street and returns every week with plastic packets to take
a little home for himself.
While Rooiland is not poor, he lives in poverty because he
cannot show his wealth for fear of his jealous neighbours.
His property is not all that is threatened; his cattle and
his dogs are constantly in danger. His large collection of
dogs has shrunk to three. All the rest have been poisoned or
disappeared because they wander around the area or else
bark at night at intruders on Rooiland’s property.
It seems that when one man thrives and does well, those
around him do not celebrate his good fortune but rather try
to cut him down, do him wrong, and bring him back down
to their level. The Chinese have an aphorism which states
that 'the tall poppy is cut down' and this is what can be
seen in this neighbourhood. The problem seems not to be
one of money but rather of a poverty mentality. Despite his
spiteful neighbours and resulting paranoia, Rooiland keeps
himself busy, happy and strong. 'I am content. I am fresh
like a fish in the water' he says, laughing.
2
exPo
11