KEEPING IT LOCKED WITH EDDIE

                                                   Eddie Albert with wife Cathy and daughter Kayle

 He sits quietly in his wheelchair by the corner of the Grahamstown Cathedral. In a very busy market is where Addie Albert sells the key rings decorated with a tiny shoe hanging on the ring. His grey hair is blown by the wind from the cold weather, but he only has a blanket covering his legs to keep him from the cold. This is at least for a day while Addie tries to sell the key rings to different people from Grahamstown and the world over who are attending the art festival.

Addie is a pensioner and he has been making key rings for eight years. His talent is what he depends on to make extra cash for a living. “Grahamstown is alive” said his wife Cathy Albert. Cathy and Addie have been married for two months and since they moved to Grahamstown, Cathy is happy her husband is making good profit.

Addie sits on his stationery wheelchair and alongside him is his wife who markets the product to the people, moving up and down at the market. Albert never had it easy in his business but he works tirelessly to make sure that he creates more key rings to sell every day. “He has struggled many times to get people to recognise his talent “, added Cathy explaining the hardships facing her disabled husband in his attempt to grow the business. Albert takes from his pension to buy glue to create the key rings, which he says doesn’t cost much. 

Addie is a solution to the one who always confuses and misplaces the keys; find him at the market in High Street before you lose your keys.

BY SINDISIWE MTHEMBU