Those senior citizens who still believe that they do not have anything to do to develop their communities must learn from Michel Kulube (61) of Musina, Freedom Park, who has created a job opportunity for himself.

He moves around the streets of Musina, picking up discarded fruit seeds, planting them in plastic containers and later selling the fruit trees to members of the community. "What other people regard as waste is money to me. There are many ways to make money, but our people are just too lazy to come up with plans. I cannot just sit and watch while the pangs of poverty and hunger continue to brutalize me daily. The responsibility lies on our shoulders to make our lives better instead of waiting for the government to provide us with all our needs," said Kulube, while watering his fruit trees.

Kulube said he decided to venture into his unusual business when he realized that there are lots of fruit seeds that are thrown away. "I realized that I can come up with something, rather than to be part of the problem of littering. People first thought that I was out of mind when I went out to pick up the seeds and I became a laughing stock. They later understood my mission and they are the ones who come to buy the fruit trees."

Kulube says he mostly specializes in avocado and mango trees. "They are easy to grow, but I also plant orange, naartjie and lemon plants." He added that he goes to the local dumping site to pick up containers that he uses to plant the fruit trees. "The place is stinking, but I have to go there to pick up the containers. I then prepare the compost and plant the trees, which I will sell after a month or so. I enjoy doing the work, although some people still look down upon me."

Kulube’s plants vary from R5 to R20, depending of the size desired by the customer.