REALANGA LANDSCAPES, a joint venture between Port Elizabeth’s Laphumilanga Landscapes and Real Landscapes of Johannesburg has been awarded a R2,6 million landscaping contract to beautify the Coega Construction Village. The eye-catching Construction Village is the Coega Development Corporation’s innovative 520-unit accommodation complex will house contractors’ core-staff for construction projects in the IDZ and port developments. During the third quarter of 2003, ReaLanga will plant 1 430 indigenous trees and 4 325 shrubs. The landscapers will also spread 24 015 kg of soil and lay 160 000 square metres of hydro seeded grass. The contract has created jobs for 16 people registered on the Coega Development Corporation’s Job Seekers database. “Because none of the 16 people we have employed has ever planted trees before, they have received hands-son training. For them, the contract is not merely a means to earn money, but it is also a learning exercise which will make them sensitive about the environment. I hope once the contract is complete my employees will start food gardens in their backyards in order to generate an income for their families,” says 40-year-old Zolani ‘Wawa’ Gaxamba, owner of Laphumilanga Landscapes. Gaxamba knows all about the opportunities created by landscaping. He entered the industry after spending a number of years at the St John Vianney Seminary in Pretoria pursuing his calling to become a Catholic priest. During his studies in theology and philosophy Gaxamba felt the need to reassess his calling. “I took a year off my studies to reassess is priesthood was still my calling, and studied political science at the University of the Western Cape where I was involved in student movements like SASCO and the Young Christian Student Movement,” he says. When he returned home unemployed and unhappy, his financial difficulties saw him joining a massive project to plant trees in Port Elizabeth. Gaxamba undertook a ten-day training course on planting trees offered by PEM (Port Elizabeth Municipality) and SIDA (Swedish International Development Agency). When the course ended he was appointed as supervisor for Coastline Engineering of Uitenhage, which has planted about 5 000 trees in Port Elizabeth. “I was always optimistic that Coega would happen and when the public was invited to fill in business registration forms, I responded by filling in the forms,” says Gaxamba. Early this year he was awarded with a five-week bush-clearing contract at the CDC. To get the landscaping contract, he responded to an advert in a local newspaper, after which he attended a site meeting where he received a tender document and subsequently submitted the forms. “Although there were prophets of doom, I am grateful to the CDC that I have been afforded the opportunity of a lifetime to showcase my skills to the world. Coega has restored my pride and dignity with this contract. Hopefully my story will become a lesson for young black people to know that they can also achieve anything they aspired to,” says Gaxamba. ReaLanga will be planting the indigenous aloes and veld grass which are common in the Motherwell area, using labour-intensive methods wherever possible in order to maximise job-creation.