A man who returned from South Africa after 25 years found his parents deceased and their home sold.
He is now a regular car washer and parking marshal on the
streets of Bulawayo. “My name is Zibusiso Sibanda and I am 45. I went to South
Africa in 1998 to look for better life opportunities. When I got to South
Africa I started doing various jobs including working in restaurants. Lady
Lucky was, however, not really been smiling at me often as I was always in and
out of prison for things like not having proper documentation among others. I
couldn’t keep the many jobs that I got owing to the arrests and detention.
“The last straw that cracked my back was in the last few
years of my stay. I was found with what was suspected to be stolen property. I
couldn’t account for it through receipts and I was arrested and placed on
remand for several years,” he told The Sunday News.
He was later sentenced to eight years in prison, a
development which he believes immediately ruined his life as his parents were
to all pass on while he was behind bars.“When I left the country, my mother and
father were staying at our family house in Magwegwe North.
I later benefited from a parole that would see me getting
out of prison and being deported last year. When I got back, I was informed
that my mother had passed on in 2019 and my father the following year in 2020.
I was told that when my father fell ill in 2020 he sold the house. So when I
came, I had nowhere to stay and I had nothing on me since I was coming from
prison.
I then opted to stay on the streets behind Bulawayo Central
Police Station.”