Siyabonga Zimoshile’s family home of 20 years was reduced to rubble yesterday, leaving him and his family exposed to the changing season; Good Things Guy readers rallied to get a roof back over their heads, raising over R20,000 in less than 24 hours!
Hout Bay, South Africa (03 May 2023) – Siyabonga “Siya” Zimoshile faced a devastating phone call yesterday while he was at work. His wife called to say that their home, all their worldly possessions and the food they had stored were gone. Everything was destroyed.
The family was left with a pile of rubble and the clothing on their backs. If Siyabonga’s name seems familiar, it is because just last week he was named a hero for his efforts in helping evacuate a building filled with elderly and children, due to a loadshedding fire.
Founder of Good Things Guy, Brent Lindeque, got the call following the devastating news. He was told the horror story of how the family was left with nothing and quickly jumped into action.
He encouraged Taylea duToit, a resident living in the building that was affected by the fire, to start a crowdfund for Siya. She was introduced to the BackaBuddy team and before long, a fund was established with a goal of R20,000 to help Siya keep his family warm with the coming winter. Taylea started the crowdfund off by sharing how giving Siya is and why he deserves a helping hand.
“Siya goes above a beyond to keep our building and all its residents safe. Not only is he our security guard but on his off days, Siya maintains our gardens as well to do his best to provide for his family. Siya has a wife and 4 children, the youngest of whom is only 5 years old.
Now when I say above and beyond… I truly mean it. Recently we had a fire in our apartment building (read that story here), that started due to an unattended stove being left on and forgotten about during load shedding. One of our other fearless security guards who was off duty at the time, saw the smoke and alerted Siya. Siya called the fire department and whilst we awaited their arrival, Siya began trying to evacuate our 14-story which included many children and elderly and headed straight into the apartment the fire was in and began fighting the blaze.
Not only was he incredibly brave and selfless but calm and collected as well as he did his best to ensure all residents were safe. Without Siya and the remarkable efforts of him and his fellow guards and maintenance man, the damage to persons and property could have been so much greater.
Siya helped us and our building in ways we will be forever indebted. Now Siya needs our help.”
Siya, his wife and their 4 children have lived in the same informal settlement for going on 20 years now. They had built a home that felt safe, was filled with love and was a haven for nurturing their biggest dreams. What was most devastating, is that Siya recently invested a large sum of his life savings into expanding the home for his children.
This loss has been unfathomable. Taylea hoped that R20,000 would be enough to get them back on their feet. After setting up the fund late yesterday with the assistance of the BackaBuddy team, the funds quickly rolled in. Before we could even finish writing this story, the crowdfund was fully funded. You can check it out here.
Good Things Guy supporters and readers fully funded this campaign in less than 24 hours. That means every donor who sent in an amount, has helped save a family of 6. Every time we hit refresh, the fund grows a little more. For this family, every cent will be the difference between a cold, unbearable winter and a warm and secure one.
Thank you, readers, thank you to each and every one of you that support the causes and crowdfunds we share. You make a difference to hundreds of lives every single day and we couldn’t be prouder to have you on our side!
We wish every single one of you, only good things!
by 