Heroes who inspire South Africans to be better

Dario Gouveia – a SPAR Hero of the Week. Dario saw a child on the street with no shoes and sore-looking feet. He wondered how many other children were suffering this way and decided to start collecting shoes to give to children in need. Since his initiative Sole2Sole was started he has collected over 6000 pairs of shoes.

Dario has inspired other children to take up similar causes with a young lady in Cape Town collecting books and another in Australia collecting shoes.

Sole2Sole is currently collecting matriculants shoes, uniforms, textbooks and stationery to pass along to children that are still in school and need supplies.

Andile Zondi inspired South Africa for being a hardworking and dedicated father. He spent his day picking through trash to earn an income. His goal was to earn enough to get his daughters through school and university. The 38-year-old single father lives in Tamboville with his two daughters, aged 6 and 13. He collects copper, brass, aluminium and tins, he has been able to pay for his children’s school fees, clothe them and buy groceries.

Since the story was published, many people have wanted to reach out and offer Andile assistance in the form of groceries, school uniforms and well as contributing to a university fund for his daughters.

“My children have dreams and I want to see them prospering and reaching the tertiary level [of education]. I am already saving for my daughters’ higher education level.”

Sibusiso Manduzu “Matrick” Mbhele inspired South Africans with his heroic actions. During the Durban Storm, he swam through floodwaters to rescue a woman trapped in a car. An onlooker took a photo of him and that set off the search for Matrick. He was found after just a few hours and honoured by multiple news outlets for his bravery.

Since posting the story about Matrick he has been honoured by various media outlets as well as the Hart family for his heroic deed. The family met up with him and during the emotional reunion, Mr Hart handed him an envelope with an undisclosed amount of money to say thank you for all that he had done.

Matrick inspired South Africa so deeply with his deed that the story trended on Good Things Guy for nearly 3 weeks.

Prosper Sebata, a petrol attendant in Rivonia, helped calm a woman who was lost and confused. He bought her a coffee with his own money and attempted to get information from her that would help him contact her family. Annatjie Moolman was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and had ended up very far away from home.

Once Prosper had calmed Annatjie down he was able to get the information he needed from her and called her son. He then sat with her while they waited for the family to arrive.

Since the story was published Prosper has been blown away by the positive reaction people have had towards his deed. He felt he was just doing what was right but is grateful for everyone’s kind words.

Warrant Officer Andries Douglas was spotted feeding the homeless on chilly winter mornings. The reason the story was so beautiful was that Officer Andries used his own money to feed the homeless but he also made sure to connect with each person as he went along.

The Officer also made sure that the people he met were warm and had enough blankets to stay warm in the evenings. Since posting the story Officer Andries has continued the work he has done. Recently he embarked on a trip on a motorbike to empower farm workers. He set off on the 16 day trip on the 14th of November and completed it on the 28th of November. Officer Andries stopped in 15 different towns and travelled over 3000kms to build connections with people.