WATCH: Homeless man desperate to get back home to Durban, gifted over R10 000 and groceries
DURBAN - A Durban man seriously injured at his last job and unable to work found himself living on the streets of Cape Town, desperate to return to Durban, his hometown.
As part of the sixth Good Deed from the Capitec #MakeADifference campaign, philanthropist BI Phakathi and musician K.O sat with Rajah Brigmohun on a bench in Cape Town and listened to his story.
Capitec, Phakathi and K.O have partnered to help change the lives of South Africans going through tough times.
In a statement today, Capitec said the three started chatting and Brigmohun shared that after being seriously injured at his last job, he was unable to work, was homeless, and desperate to return to Durban.
Brigmohun said he had lost his wife to colon cancer and injured his right hand and has pins in his right leg after an accident at the fishing company he worked for.
He said as a homeless person, very few people come and support him. However, he said he had a Capitec account and some students would send him money.
Phakathi and K.O handed him groceries and some money and transferred another R10 000 into his account.
With just R9 in his account, after he was handed the money he said he would immediately go and deposit the cash in his account.
In the video with tears in his eyes he thanked and hugged the men for their generous act of kindness.
According to the statement, Brigmohun’s dream is now to use the funds to start a spaza shop.
Head of Corporate Social Investment at Capitec Bank, Neptal Khoza said that after the unrest, the bank’s foundation, which has a multi-pronged approach to social Investment, realised that some South Africans were stranded.
Khoza said the bank committed funds to intervene in affected areas in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.
“As part of this, we committed R3.9 million to food relief and distributed around 18 tons of food parcels to more than 18 000 people countrywide. It’s an incredible privilege to be able to make a difference to people like Rajah. We hope that he gets home safely and that this contribution helps make a small but significant impact on his life,” he said.
In addition, the bank said more than 4 000 Capitec employees had participated in some form of volunteerism over the past few months and have helped organisations like Salt and Light Foundation and the Butterfly Foundation in KwaZulu-Natal recover from the damage done by the unrest.
K.O said despite their differences, the one thing he has always known is that South Africans are a kind-hearted people.
“That is why wherever you go you will hear people repeating the phrase ‘umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu’ (I am because we are). We felt like these good deeds would be a good way of expressing that – and we hope they inspire other South Africans to share their stories of ‘paying it forward’,” he said.
THE MERCURY