Andre spent two years sleeping under a bridge in Hibberdene. The people who found him thought he was an old man. The grey beard and the limp had everyone unintentionally bamboozled!
KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa (29 October 2026) – The Elders Voice KZN recently stopped at the Hibberdene off-ramp to help an ‘elderly’ gentleman. They found Andre sitting against a wall under the Malungu River Bridge, where he had been living for two whole years.
The Elders Voice KZN is a Durban-based non-profit that runs shared living homes for vulnerable and destitute older people, and helps them access healthcare, SASSA grants, meals and transport.
Nat Inqaqa was the one who raised the alarm about Andre, after spotting him there. The team went to see for themselves, sat down next to Andre and started talking. A simple conversation can open doors.
“Andre told us how he was robbed of his belongings, including his ID document. During the struggle, he fell and severely broke his hip. He ended up in hospital, but before he had even fully recovered, he was discharged and found himself back on the streets, with nowhere to go.”
The team from The Elders Voice brought him back to one of its facilities, where he could have a proper bath, clean clothes, a decent meal, and ‘the dignity every human being deserves’ the organisation shared.
On the drive back there, Andre dropped a bomb. His limp and his big grey beard had everyone bamboozled into believing he was already in his golden years!
“As we drove along, chatting away, we discovered that our so-called ‘old man’ is actually ONLY 52 YEARS OLD,” the organisation writes. “That grey beard and that limp had us completely fooled!”
The Elders Voice KZN calls him a character. Andre speaks English, Afrikaans, isiZulu and isiXhosa, doesn’t touch alcohol, and he’s hilarious. He is also a qualified spray painter by trade, and he doesn’t want to spend the rest of his life depending on handouts.
The organisation has committed to helping him, and they’ve started the process of replacing his ID, which he’ll need before any employer can take him on. Then he’ll need an employer.
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If that’s you, contact The Elders Voice KZN. Find out more here.
The organisation thanked Halfway Ford Port Shepstone for its support and Nat Inqaqa for bringing Andre to its attention.
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