Thank you Nando’s, thank you for the love but I think I may love you so much more!
Johannesburg, South Africa (11 February 2021) – This Nando’s message will always be my favourite Facebook memory, and every year that it pops up – on the 11th of February – it reminds me how far I have come… and what a journey it has been.
Besides me loving their menu (and humour), having them post this little gem in 2014 and using me as a keynote speaker at many of their big events now, Nando’s and I go way back.
You see, my very first job at just 15 years old was at a little Nando’s in Alberton. We worked really long hours – from mopping floors and washing windows, to working on the tills and serving customers, we always smelt like charred-chicken when we got home and only got tips in 1c and 5c (for the zoomers, that kind of money was worth nothing back then either), but we got paid by the hour and could eat as many chips and perinaise as our hearts desired. It also made me respect hard work, taught me how to save and gave me a purpose every day after school.
That was the year 2000 when I really had no idea what I wanted to be, or where this life would take me.
Fast-forward 14 years later, and I woke up to this crazy message in the Newspaper. They had posted it in response to the Neknominations, and they had, in fact, gotten very involved by helping a day-care in Alexandra that looked after special-needs kids. They used their nomination to entirely re-build the kitchen and dining area, to give the kids a safe, beautiful place to share a meal every day. It was really something special.
A couple of years after that, I got involved with their charity – Goodbye Malaria – a very close cause to my heart. Losing my Dad to Cerebral Malaria is still one of the greatest tragedies that I have ever faced, so being part of an organisation that is actively working to eradicate this disease on a daily basis, is perhaps my life’s greatest work.
On one occasion, I was invited to an event at O.R. Tambo, where they had launched a new kiosk to sell “Goodbye Malaria” pyjamas, soft toys and other goods for the organisation. A guy called Robbie came up to me to thank me for all that I was doing. He told me that he was absolutely in love with Good Things Guy and explained that it was the first thing he read when we woke up every day. He was really lekker, and we spent the entire event chatting. Just before leaving, he handed me his business card and said that we should do “good things” together.
That guy was Robbie Brozen – co-founder of Nando’s – and I had spent almost 2 hours not knowing who he was.
Good grief, I sat in my car feeling like such a chop but was so humbled that a man who has created a global empire had any idea of who I was, and that he actually followed this little platform I had created.
Since then, I have been invited as a keynote speaker at many of their big events, I promote all the good work they do, and I continue to help where I can in the fight to end Malaria but jussie man… to look back at where my story with Nando’s started is truly something.
So thank you Nando’s, thank you for the love but I think I may love you so much more.