Mr. Nematswerani (Contract driver)

He lives in Tshikombani village with his wife, 4 of his 7 children, and numerous grandchildren.   Mr Nematswerani became a school driver after a chance meeting at the school in 2005. He had a ‘bakkie’ (small pickup truck) and transported 5 children from their homes in the morning and dropped them off after school.

As more children came to Vhutshilo Mountain School he bought another bakkie and his son, Lucky, became a driver as well. People in the villages then asked him to collect their children from other schools and he bought a 40 seater bus and his other son became another driver. To date he has two 40 seater busses, one 65 seater and one 30 seater and although he only transports 21 young Vhutshilo Mountain School learners, an average of 800 youngsters from other schools are transported to their various places of learning.

His one son is a self-taught mechanic, and his wife looks after some children at their home in the afternoons while they wait for their ride to faraway villages. Although Mr. Nematswerani does not do the regular drives any more, he is still very much involved in this family business, and they have an excellent safety record and are reliable.