“I have a name” is an incredible photo series showcasing everyday South Africans in the most phenomenal way. Proudly South African… one story at a time.
The stories are told by the incredible South Africans… raw & unedited. It’s a showcase of humanness, a reminder that behind every face, is a name.
Meet Ayanda, an incredible South African businessman!
The colourful umbrella over the little roadside stall stands out on the grey rainy morning. It looks like it is a hive of activity as I fill up my car at the Sasol Petrol Station on Cedar Road, just outside Dainfern. I decide to investigate.
20 year old Ayanda doesn’t speak much English and has a shy smile. Thankfully there are lots of people to translate. The much sought after treat on this cold rainy morning is warm fresh ‘vetkoek’ from a big white bucket at his little roadside stand.
It’s selling like hotcakes…or should I say..like vetkoek!
As I stand to watch, at least 20 people stop and walk off with their breakfast in small plastic bags along with a side serving of achar from a smaller bucket. At R1 a pop it’s a great deal for the domestic workers, garderers, and painters who get off the taxi and walk to the Dainfern gate.
” I wake up at 3AM and make the vetkoek, then I come here and my customers buy it. ”
“You have to eat it with this achar,” one of his customers pipes in.
I can’t resist and buy one myself – melt in your mouth kind of stuff, especially on a cold morning …and if you buy it from Ayanda it even counts as a banting meal I am told!
A taxi stops and a hand comes out of the window with some money, “5 vetkoek please.”
” I make 140 in the morning… I sell all in the day,” Ayanda proudly tells me in broken English.
How great would it be for this young man to get some Dainfern customers! You can phone him on 0737848464 to place an order, or better yet… it’s like a drive-through… you can stay in your car and order through the window!
“I Have A Name” is a space where an anonymous photographer (we’ll call her J) is taking photos of everyday South Africans to showcase their incredible stories.
How do we bridge the great South African divides? Black vs white, young vs old, rich vs poor, men vs women? The divides that keep us from making eye contact with the beggar standing on the street corner, or the stranger in the lift.
CS Lewis said, “There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations – these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub and exploit – immortal horrors or everlasting splendors. This does not mean that we are to be perpetually solemn. We must play. But our merriment must be of that kind (and it is, in fact, the merriest kind) which exists between people who have, from the outset, taken each other seriously – no flippancy, no superiority, no presumption.”
Come with me on a journey…the stories and names behind the faces of everyday South Africans living their life in your neighbourhood, on your streets.
I think you will discover that we have a lot in common.
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