Portraits from Cape Town

My husband was driving down Kloof Street when he saw the too familiar sight of a parking guy with a bright coloured vest on but it was the vest the guy was wearing that made him stop and talk to the guy. He took some pictures too.

Here’s what he found out:

• His name is Josef Firmin
• He’s from The Democratic Republic of the Congo (we refer it as Dr. Congo. It’s easier and shorter. Or DRC)
• He’s been in South Africa 11 years
• He wants to go back to his home country one day
• He makes about R100/day (about US $10)
• He says that most people are friendly to him

He was very polite and friendly. Much nicer than many other Congolese we’ve met in the past. With many of the xenophobic events that have happened in South Africa this past year, I’d imagine it’s a scary ordeal for many of the African immigrants that come to SA for work.

This experience gave me an idea to feature random people on my blog. Faces that we see everyday.

These are Capetonians. Like me, many aren’t from here and like me, many will end up going back home some time in the future. But it does show us all how Cape Town is ‘home’ to so many different types of people from different walks of life.