Local Hero

When Sibusiso Mvalo came to our rescue on New Year's Eve, and drove off the two guys with knives, they nonetheless managed to rip off my rucksack.   However Anne refused to let my rucksack disappear and grabbed it back as they ran off, getting a cut finger in the process. My pink shirt was somehow ripped/cut to bits in the struggle, but thanks to our young rescuer we weren't injured, unlike so many other incidents reported recently. I determined to keep in touch with Sibusiso when I got back to CapeTown.  He's a very brave man.  He had only been working at Checkers for 1 month on New Year's Eve and was walking home from work because his own money (first pay check) had gone missing that day at work. I'm glad we were able to give him what we had to help him too.

So when Anne flew home I went over to the Checkers store in Sea Point and met him for a chat.  I asked to meet his manager,  told the story of his heroism and had our picture taken together for the internal magazine. Chatting to Sibusiso over a cold drink in a nearby cafe I found out that he is 22 and lives a long way out of Cape Town at Gugulethu.  His mother is out of work so he is the sole breadwinner for his extended family under the Ubuntu principle. I was concerned that as an employee of just 1 month that 35% of his income went on travel to work in the mornings, despite the company providing late night staff transport to get home in the evening. That leaves him about £100 per month....   

I was interested to learn that he had been a Scout and had been on camping trips on Table Mountain,  and is a sportsman.

He is very keen on sport and would love to be able to train as a sports teacher. I was able to provide bit of funding towards that goal, but it's big challenge for him to fund his studies let alone to continue his job at the same time.

Paul and Sibusiso

Our friends Chris and Auriel suggested that I contact Kieno Kammies, the presenter of Cape Talk morning radio show, who is well known at championing good causes.  He kindly agreed to feature the story on his programme this morning and Sibusiso and I were interviewed by phone.

Shortly afterwards I was delighted to hear Pieter Engelbrecht, CEO of Shop Rite and its 144,000 employees, phone in to the radio show to congratulate Sibusiso. He promised several things he could do to recognise the excellent character of one of his newest employees; a profile in the Shoprite magazine, an award for bravery, and most importantly help with access to further training to advance his career. 

Pieter Engelbrecht, CEO of ShopRite - promised a lot (but did nothing!)

Pieter Engelbrecht rose through the ranks in Shoprite, so perhaps he can help Sibusiso do the same..........    (Later discovered that he had done nothing for Sibusiso!)