Busdriver
Life is a long and winding road. Cedrik Victor Davids has been driving a Golden Arrow public bus since 1969. He loves his profession, lives a pleasant life and believes in the potency of the rainbow nation. We spent a whole day on his bus, talked with passengers and he invited us to his house where we met with his entire family.
“I leave at quarter past five in the morning and my first trip is to Atlantis on the West Coast. The people that I pick up in the morning are people – like policemen – who work on night duty and are returning home and then also workers who go to work outside the city. I love the people and the atmosphere. One of my passengers handed a little silver statue trophy to me on behalf of the people on the bus. During the apartheid era we used to have the double deckers. The lower salon was for the whites, the top salon was for the blacks and the coloureds. You understand? The company has employed a certain amount of women which was quite difficult for the men to accept. We’re trying to adapt to the changes. I see black and coloured kids going to the white schools but the division is still there. It has not changed as much as it should have. But most probably within a few years with a new generation it can be entirely different.”
What he wants for his children and grand-children is a better education. His wife wants them to be humble and prosperous and she would like them to travel the world and explore other countries and cultures.