The soup warms Bathandwa from within. She explains everything to her family.
“Gogo, there is no money in your cards because the loans you took have to be paid back. You kept loaning more, so the repayments are now more than what you get paid.”
“Nkosi Nkulunkulu, what am I going to do?”
“Being a weekend, there is nothing we can do. On Monday I will pay for the loans.”
“How much in total needs to be paid?”
“Close to four thousand rand. But don’t worry, Gogo, I will sort everything out.”
“I did not know the money we loan ends up being so much. How is it so much? I don’t understand.”
“They make a profit on the original amount, Gogo. If you take three hundred rand you pay back in total three hundred and ninety rand. So if you keep on loaning more on top of that the repayments increase until you get to the situation you are in. And you are in too much debt.”
“You are God sent, child. If they explained it to me like you just did, I would have not taken more loans.”
“It is all right. I will just ask that from now on you call me when you are short of money, instead of taking loans.”
Bathandwa turns to her sister and says, “You have to take a more adult role now, Noluthando. You must help Gogo make a budget for the month and let me know early if there is anything short. That is the only way we can stay away from debt. Also, please apply for part-time work during holidays and weekends so you can add to the income of the household. Use your phone to look for work, not only WhatsApp and Facebook.”
“I hear you, Sis,” answers Noluthando, looking embarrassed.
In the kitchen, washing dishes with Noluthando, Bathandwa says quietly, “I was also told of many air time transactions on the statements. Gogo cannot be using that much airtime.”
“I got that airtime to inquire about bursaries,” says Noluthando.
“Don’t you lie to me, Noluthando. Those airtime transactions were all for data bundles.”
“I have to connect with friends. You don’t know how boring it gets here!”
“This stops now, you hear me? Never again will you use Gogo’s card for data bundles. You will do the budget, call me when things are short. I will send you money for your needs and you will learn to budget. Uyezwa? ”
“I am sorry, Sis. Understood.”
***
Tell us what you think: Was Noluthando ‘stealing’ from her grandmother to buy airtime bundles. If not, how would you describe what she was doing? Do you have sympathy for her?