South Africans are coming together to financially support Siphamandla Wiseman Ndabezitha, a petrol attendant who works at the BP Quarry Service Station in Pietermaritzburg. What started off as a rude prank that left him feeling embarrassed has turned around for the 38-year-old.
A video that was being secretly filmed shows a confused Ndabezitha holding two R10 notes given to him by a customer. He had been told to pour “two ten” worth of petrol and thought this mean R210 worth of petrol. Instead he was handed two R10 notes before the customer drove off.
“My mom almost named me Happy and that is how I want people to feel when they come to me,” he told SowetanLIVE. “So when he did this to me I was very shocked and hurt, to be honest.”
Ndabezitha had worked as a gardener and domestic worker before he was hired by the petrol station in 2012. “Tumi Sole told me that people are donating money. I don’t know how much it is yet but I’m happy,” he said.
He has three sons, aged 5, 6 and 7 respectively, and has hopes of building a home for his children and mother. Ndabezitha currently lives in a mud house with a friend, and is far from home.
“Country Duty entails helping fellow South Africans, particularly the vulnerable, poor and marginalised. The video was in bad taste and I couldn’t let it go unnoticed. Mzansi has helped in various requests for donation and Wiseman deserved his dignity to be restored,” said Sole, speaking about the NGO that decided to intervene and help restore the petrol attendant’s dignity.
If anyone knows where the attendant works, do hit us up
cc @winiledubazane @diggiebongz https://t.co/c0IWzmV5Xa
— Tumi Sole (@tumisole) September 8, 2020
South Africans have been paying money into Ndabezitha’s bank account, and he is grateful for the support.
Picture: Twitter/Tumi Sole