The midday sun is bright and a strong breeze blows about the Shoprite Taxi Rank in Louis Trichardt. Ndivhudzannyi Munyai (24) of Mailaskop sits on top of the plastic crate in front of her small fruit-and-veggie stall.

“I started selling here in December 2010, when the hot sun hit one straight in the centre of one´s head,” she narrates. “I had been relying on my parents for everything for a long time, but they passed away - first my father in 2005 and then my mother in 2009.” Then she had to fend for herself and her 26-month-old daughter.

She explains that the stall she operates her business from was first used by her brother’s wife, and that after the sister-in-law had shown no interest in continuing with the hawker’s business, he decided that the space was to be handed over to her.

“My brother has been very supportive,” she acknowledges in a humble tone with her soft voice. “He gives me total moral support and it helps me stay strong and steady.”

Munyai confesses that she feels deeply stressed on days when business is slack. In this regard, though, hawkers claim that there has been no business in the taxi rank for the past three weeks. “I depend only on my own means for my livelihood,” she says. “Business cannot boom every day. It’s all part of life here on earth. I don’t think I can sell my body to make a living. I choose to stay far from that kind of shame.”

The municipal spokesperson Louis Bobodi lauds Munyai and other hawkers in town. “What Munyai is doing is part of community building,” he says. “We encourage people like her to continue doing the good work. It helps alleviate the high rate of crime and unemployment. Some of the hawkers are even able to take their children through school with the money they make from selling, something which is praiseworthy.”

Munyai still lives in a one-room, shaky shack which her mother left her.