At the tender age of 18, Zinzi Mfundisi fled her home in Cape Town with dreams of becoming a singer.
Her life had been difficult from the start, abandoned by her mother at just three months old, she was left in the care of her stepfather’s family.
All those years Mfundisi was under the impression that the family she grew up with was her own until her birth mother showed up in 1995 to claim her.
The household she grew up in was far from nurturing. It was a place where alcohol and drugs were sold, and the environment was harsh and unforgiving. Mfundisi often felt like an outsider, a burden to the people who reluctantly took her in.
As she grew older, the idea of finding her aunt in Johannesburg, a woman she had only heard about in passing, became her beacon of hope. She believed that her aunt, who she heard of in passing, could give her a chance at a better life.
Mfundisi then ran away from home and took a journey bound for the City of Gold, determined to find her aunt and leave her troubled past behind for a better shot at life.
The journey was long, but her excitement kept her spirits high. She dreamt of becoming a singer, music became her escape and a way to drown out the chaos that surrounded her. However, upon arrival in Johannesburg, reality struck hard.
The city was much larger and more intimidating than she had anticipated. She wandered the busy streets for a while, searching for her aunt with nothing more than a faded address written on a piece of paper.
Days turned into weeks as she wandered the city, but her aunt was nowhere to be found. Her hope ran out, until she found herself at the Methodist Shelter after sleeping in the cold streets of Johannesburg.
Eventually after months of searching, Mfundisi finally found her aunt in 2012, in the township of Alexander and the reunion was bittersweet. Her aunt welcomed her, but the living conditions were still far from what she had hoped.
In 2013, she went back home to the township of Riversdal, after her brother pleaded for her return as their mother was ill from cancer and later passed on. Accepting her fate, Mfundisi went back to the streets until she returned to a safe space.
Her dreams of becoming a singer seemed more distant than ever. Without other options, she sought refuge in a nearby homeless shelter, as her aunt’s house and living conditions could not provide the stability she needed.
The shelter was a far cry from the life she had imagined in Johannesburg, but it provided her with a bed to sleep in and a warm meal each day. While at the shelter, she still manages to survive off of the R350 grant she receives monthly.
She has often been promised help to record her music in a professional studio but has always been disappointed.
Despite the hardships and the disappointments, her resilience keeps her dreams alive. The city may have been unkind, but within the walls of the shelter, her voice still finds a way to shine, and she believes that she will make it one day.
IOL has embarked on a campaign called Elevate Her to highlight the plight of homeless women of South Africa. IOL is also collecting items for dignity packs to be distributed across the country. To get involved, email info@iol.co.za
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