Life of a Young Kasi Hustler.

The Begining of Sgija

My name is Musa Buthelezi a 25 year old boy born and raised in Atteridgeville, Pretoria . I was born on the 25th October 1997 to a single mom by the name Sarah Buthelezi, along with my little sister by the name Michelle Buthelezi who was born on the 22nd of February 2002. For as long as I can remember we stayed in an informal settlement we called Moshongo at our township but it wasn't always like that, see we used to stay in Oudstad which is still in Atteridgeville but back then we stayed at my dads home after his parents died they left the house to him, the house in which we lived in since I was born,  life wasn't bad then we lived comfortably as my dad had a proper job that was until my dad died in 2003 and because he had not married my mom by then his siblings chased us from his house and because my mom had no home beacuse she had run away from her home at a young age after her mom died because her dad sexual abused her, meant that we had to move to an informal settlement. I was 7 when my dad died and because of his evil family we didn't even attend his funeral as they said we weren't his children and that my mom trapped him with chidren that weren't even his so we were not welcome, my sister was just 1 year old by that time so unlike me she was born into poverty as my mom didn't have a job nor qualifications to get a proper job. She used to do odd jobs like washing peoples laundry or baby sitting or even gardening and house cleaning for us to survive.  Atleast we had a place to call home, she enrolled me to a primary school in our township called Makgwaraneng Primary School and lucky for us we didn't pay any school fees. My sister was still young then so my mom used to take her to work if she got called in for a job.

Life kept going like that for years, my mom really tried her best for us to survive but with no formal job we struggled to make ends meet. On some days we even went to bed on an empty stomach and ate at school. This went on for as long as I can remember until mid 2010 when my passed away, that was when my world started crashing and my life became hell. My sister was only 9 in grade 3 and I was 14 in grade 8 we barely even had the money to bury my mom but our community helped us put together a small simple funeral and we layed her to rest. We couldn't sleep that day thinking of how we'd survive this world without our mom, but I had a friend who was as poor as us and was homeless who eventually started staying with me and my little sister but for a little fee for survival ofcourse.His name was Tokollo also known as TeeKay. He used to bring some food home sometimes even money. He was the same age as me but was not in school, he was well known by the entire community of Moshongo. He always had money but I didn't know where he got the money but one day as we were eating dinner he had brought home that day, he said to me" Sgija mfan ao nyako ira zaka nyan kaore ka kawatega mfan zaka ee keye kreyang hae enough for rona kaofela (don't you want to make some money boy, cause the money I make isn't enough for all of us)" and because we do need money I agreed to making more money with him, little did I know what we had to do for the money.

The following day, I came back from school and he told me we had to go meet someone who'd help us make more money, We took a little walk to the other side of our area to a little blue shack where he found a boy a little older than us by the name Thato also known as Mataozen or Taozen. "Sho bavanza (yes boys)" he said to us "Sho Grootman, dinstan? (yes brother, what's good?)" replied Teekay "This is my brother I told you about kyena Sgija wao tsena Nkomo, aka khona tsamaisa zolo ko sgila (this is Sgija who schools at Nkomo high and we could sell the weed at school)" He said, I stood there suprised by what I just heard looking at the older boy, who then looked at me and said "Sgija mfan every bag or joint you sell you get 50% of the amount, kore heoka rekisa bag ka choko(R20) o kreya jacket (R10) ke tseya jacket (R10)  ware mahunty ka jacket (R10) o kreya lekopi (R5) ke tseya lekopi  (R5) wantswara small?( meaning if you sell a bag for R20 each we'll share R10 each and if you sell joints for R10 each we'll share R5 each do you get me ?)" and because I saw how confidently and seriously Teekay looked at me, I didn't want to seem like a sissy so I looked at Taozen and said "Sho Grootman keo tswere, Mphe dilo ke bone hore nka wina bokae kaosane(yes brother, I got you give the merch so I can see how much I'll make tomorrow)" confidentely. He gave us each 20 bags of weed and 1 packet of joints which had 50 joints inside. This meant that we could only return for more supply if the had soldout everything which meant the more you sold the more money you made and for TeeKay that was difficult becuase there were lots of weed suppliers on the streets but luckily for me no one had the guts to sell weed at school and risk getting caught but because I had to feed my sister I had to do what I had to do but carefully so I don't get caught by teachers or the principal.

I woke up extra early the following day making sure I got to school first where I stood at the corner where every school kid passed by before getting to the school gate and beacuse I was a popular at school everyone greeted me while they passed by and I'd tell them to tell me if they needed a weed plug. Our school gate closed at 08:00 a.m and by 07:30 I already got about 5 customers that day who bought only bags and beacuse you'd need wrap to roll your joint I made sure I bought a box of wraps before coming to school that day which I sold 1 wrap for R1 that meant I had already made R100 for the weed and about R10 with the wrap. I attended school as usual and by the time the bell rang for break I already had about 8 customers waiting for me at my spot I usually sit during break which was under a big tree and the furtherest corner of the school gate. After break I was excited by the amount I had made on my first day, if I had known alot of kids would buy weed at school I would've started selling whilist my mom was still alive but I was still in primary back then so I doubt I'd this much customers. Anyways by the time the bell had rang for afterschool I had sold about 30 joints and 13 bags which meant I had 20 joints left and 7 bags left. I made sure I was the first one to arrive at the school gate when the bell rang so all my customers can find me there and as expected I sold everything on my first day and I went to Bra Taozen very excited that day I had made R900 with the bags and joints and a little extra cash with the wraps which were my own profit. "Bra Taozen Bra Taozen" I shouted outside his shack, there came out a boy same height and body size as me, "Ha teng o tswile mfan, kere ke mang namo nyaka?(He's not here boy, who should I say came looking for him?)" He said to me. "Motse Sgija wadi amount na tlile( Tell him Sgija moneybags was here)" I shouted as I ran off to find TeeKay. His name was BeeKay and He was 13 years old in grade 8 at Phatudi High, he was a little genuis and was Bra Taozen's little brother.