​41-year-old Siphamandla Khumalo relocated to Johannesburg from Newcastle in KwaZulu-Natal in 2001. 
Khumalo said “When I arrived here, I was 19 years old, and I stayed with my sister. I decided to come to Johannesburg for job opportunities, to experience what is it like to live in a big city, the night life and good food”.
 
Unfortunately, things did not turn out the way I had planned. When my sister passed away in 2009, I ended up living on the streets of Johannesburg central business district. 

“Growing up in rural Newcastle was tough, my late father was the only one working. He supported me and my six siblings including our late mother who was also unemployed. There were days where there was no food at all and I will go to school on an empty stomach as my dad could not afford to buy us food”, he explains. 

“Following my sister's passing I looked for employment but it was difficult to secure one because when I growing up, I was a troubled child. I committed a crime and I was arrested. I was unable to get a job because of my criminal record that’s why I ended up washing and guarding cars around Fraser, Commissioner and Market streets”, said Khumalo with a smile on his face. 

“I’m not a bad person my brother, I was abusing drugs and stealing to buy food. Being homeless and unemployed led me to abuse drugs and stealing”. 

The Gauteng Social Development’s Men’s Forum approached him after noticing that he was sick and had lost some weight. He confided to men’s forum members that he was sick and told them he doesn’t have money to go to the doctor. They then facilitated for him to go to a drug rehabilitation centre. After undergoing assessments at SANCA, he was admitted to The Life Centre in Randfontein. 

During his stay at the centre, he completed a six-week detoxification program and has since been enrolled into an after and skills development programme where he was trained on sewing. With the skills he acquired, Khumalo is generating income by sewing, altering clothes as well as repairing shoes for staff members and service users. 
He is going to be discharged from the centre on 27 May 2023. 

Khumalo plans to continue to make a living through skills he acquired. His only challenge will be buying a sewing machine, because the money he makes from sewing clothes at the centre is not enough. Khumalo has appealed to good Samaritans out there to donate a sewing machine since he cannot afford one, even if it’s a second hand machine. 

Sakkie Ngobeni from the centre said Khumalo has changed and he’s no longer the person he was when he arrived at the centre. He said he was shy when he arrived, did not interact with other service users and his self-confidence has grown. 

Khumalo says he is grateful and thankful for what Social Development officials as well as The Life Centre staff, social workers and nurses have done for him.