You can often get cheap PC's from businesses who threw them out or donated them to the SPCA that are lekker to tinker with.
I have two old systems here (very, very old) that you can take off my hands. One has a blown PSU and the other I could not get to post, but it switched on. No Hard drives, but you can boot a Linux distro off a USB drive pretty easy to test the systems.
I'm in Woodlands currently, we also make our way to Westville and further up on a regular basis. Inbox me if you are interested...
Other than that I would try watching as many tutorials as I can from the top YouTubers, and keep an eye out at pawn shops, SPCA etc for second-hand PC's on the cheap! I bought a 4th gen intel based system in full working order a while back for R900.
In terms of getting work, you'd probably find it hard to get an internship position at this time, but if you are willing to work for cheap to learn, then maybe. Customs have been detaining stock so sales are low currently and everyone is taking the strain.
Next time I have a build, perhaps I could invite you over and you could assist, but at the moment it's so quiet. I'll be moving to Westville end of the month and will be operating from there.