After 30 years of not touching a book, Simbirisiyo Mushanewana, 49, is enrolling at Stellenbosch University next year, moving one step closer to her goal of turning her soup kitchen into a training center.
Mushanewana, known as Sam or Sammie, is an Uber driver and the founder of Donations OnWheels (DO), a registered nonprofit that feeds the homeless from the trunk of his Nissan Almera.
After applying to six universities, Sam, once homeless, was accepted into Stellenbosch’s theology college the next year. He still hopes to be accepted for a degree in social work, for which he was accepted at the University of Pretoria, but that would mean having to relocate.
“I’m just crossing my fingers, I hope something comes up, if it doesn’t it’s all good,” Sam said at the Post & Pepper, a restaurant in the heart of Stellenbosch’s busy streets packed with students, a demographic Sam didn’t can wait to join.
“Because learning is learning. Remember at the beginning I said, ‘Even if it’s a degree in whistling, I’ll take it,’” Sam laughed before adding, “It’s just for me to get the knowledge, it’s very important to have knowledge.”
Sam will pay part of the tuition and a flight attendant from Switzerland, who visits South Africa frequently, has offered to help with his education.
“This lady, I picked her up [in my Uber] and we [started] talking and I told him my story,” Sam said.
He once lived with his wife and four children in Kayamandi, an informal settlement on the outskirts of Stellenbosch. After 20 years of marriage, the couple separated. He was left with a Honda Brio and suicidal thoughts, the mail and guardian reported in February.
When he founded DO three years ago, he had hit rock bottom. He was befriending some of the homeless people in town that changed his life.
“Instead of giving up, I told myself, let my challenges be my breakthrough, let me use my challenges as fuel to keep my engine running,” he said at the time.
He declared that out of the trunk of his car, a training center would soon emerge for the destitute who want a better life.
Since February, Sam has had to retrieve his registration certificate from three decades ago in Zimbabwe. “It wasn’t as difficult as it was expensive.”
He had to deposit R1 400 to get a duplicate of his registration certificate and another R1 400 to “release” the certificate and post it to South Africa. Submitting his Zimbabwean certificate to the South African Qualifications Authority cost him R2 850. Converting the certificate to South African standards cost an additional R2 850.
His student visa and a premium account (which allowed him to apply at any time without an appointment) came to R2,600. Then there was the required doctor’s letter, registration fees, and other items.
In April he was ready to apply to a university, which he did immediately.
“I was going to apply to all of them,” Sam said. “Next year I will drive with my books under the seat and while I wait [for a client] I will read two paragraphs.”
Sam is no stranger to the inevitable changes coming his way.
The NPO will continue to operate, while he will work his 12-hour shift to pay for his three vehicles.
“I need to balance everything,” said Sam, who is confident his small team of volunteers will fill the void created when he leads the class, “but it’s all good, there’s always a way somewhere. It will work. As long as I don’t give up. The big problem is when you give up.”
Sam is determined to finish a degree and gain skills to turn the DO soup kitchen into a training center “where the underprivileged come and learn basic skills.”
He believes there are people who want to get off the streets, but don’t have the skills, vehicle or support they need to do so. He remembers helping a homeless person get a job at a construction site on the Strand. “In three weeks you couldn’t believe it was the same guy. The change.”
Even if it takes 20 years, Sam said, “whatever time it takes. The point is that people need skills.”
It’s December, and Sam hopes to “be on the streets” to bring joy to the homeless. He is still waiting for the University of Stellenbosch to inform him if a place has been opened to study social work. But he is happy.
“You can skate from here to Joburg, you’ll still get there, you can walk or fly, you’ll still get there or you can drive, whenever you get there.”
