After he was shot and injured at his shisanyama in 2019, Anele Lucuku(45) has found new ways to cope.
Lucuku, a neighbourhood watch member believes that he was attacked because of his role in fighting crime. He was team of neighbourhood watch members fighting drug dealing at the time he was attacked.
The attack left the father of four with no option but to find ways to feed his family. Now walking with crutches, Lucuku said farming to cope with the shooting incident.
“I always try to avoid thinking about how my life changed because of the shooting. I used to work and do many things that I cannot do today.
“Because I’m a father and I want to still take care of myself I decided to start farming in the small space I have behind my house,” he said.
When SunTeam arrived in the area he was busy in his spinach garden behind his house.
Lucuku said he doesn’t only focus on the spinach but different kinds of crops. He said previously he had maize and onions and other crops. His dream is to even have a larger piece of land to farm as it is the only practical.
“I accepted that I’m in this state so I must focus on farming, it’s a practical thing I can do though I struggle to bend down for longer. As you know it’s not always about me doing but I can ask other people to take part and do what I cannot do,” he said.
Lucuku said farming is something that he started when he was young.
“It is something that I grew up with and I think it is one of the things that I can say I have experienced from my childhood hence I followed that path,” he said.
Besides farming he still runs a shisa nyama though it is difficult as he cannot do everything for himself as he used to do.
“Since I got shot, people are not as supportive as they used to be,” he said.
Deputy secretary of Sanco in Cape Town Nolufefe Mbombo says Lucuku loved his kasi. “He was injured and became disabled while protecting his community and I think the community must stand with him,” she said.
