Misfortune Of A Aurora East Rand Mineworker Poem by Gert Strydom

A 36 year old man works months without payment
at the Aurora East Rand gold mine
under the illusion from the black owners, promising
that salaries are following, but without receiving money.

In January he only receives ten percent of his salary
(which is just eighteen hundred rand)
while the company owns him for eighteen months
and the government does nothing against the black owners

he looks for other employment everywhere
but is not able to find anything else,
he is put out of his house and has to leave it
finding nowhere to go to

things get too much for the poor man,
he looses his cars, his furniture
and almost every thing that he possess,
in his thoughts he is at the edge of the abyss,
he does not know how to put food on the table,

tries to hang himself three times on one night
where his wife stops him just in time
and now she is really scared
that he will try to suicide again.