Hearing Sihle’s harrowing story, the Kolisi Foundation set up a crowdfund to help turn the 19-year-old’s life around after being wrongfully arrested!
Cape Town, South Africa (28 May 2021) – Young Sihle’s life was thrown completely off balance when he was wrongly arrested for a crime he didn’t commit. He went on to spend months in Cape Town’s notorious Pollsmoor Maximum Security prison while waiting to prove his innocence.
Once Sihle was freed, he learned that his mother had passed away and his home had been taken over by someone else. He was homeless and completely alone. Sihle ended up like many South Africans without a life to return to; he ended up on the streets.
With a life destroyed and nowhere to go, Sihle slept outside a police station for safety. He had been at a shelter for three months but lost his placement.
While Sihle was in prison, Siya Kolisi visited to give a motivational speech to some of the inmates. Sihle took a chance and sent a message to the Kolisi Foundation, asking for a helping hand in getting his life back.
Rachel and Siya Kolisi run the Kolisi Foundation. Rachel heard Sihle’s story and stepped up to help get his life back on track.
To his surprise, Rachel Kolisi responded.
Inspired by Sihle’s strength and the sadness in his story, the Kolisi Foundation is trying to help him turn his life around.
“I’ve come across so few people that are this resilient and so few people who have overcome what he has overcome” – says Rachel.
In line with their motto, “remember the one, one by one”, The Kolisi Foundation has since found a temporary shelter for Sihle to stay at and has enrolled him in courses to complete his matric and receive computer skills development, so he can have a better future and follow his dreams.
Helping Sihle build a better future
To cover his basic living costs such as food, transport, and toiletries while staying at the shelter, the Kolisi Foundation has launched a crowdfunding campaign on BackaBuddy which has already raised over R33 000 towards their fundraising target of R150 000 with kind contributions from 86 donors.
Additional funds will be used to cover Sihle’s fixed monthly costs for rent and groceries, as well as psychologist services or anything that could help with his health and wellness.
“I think it’s important for all of us as South Africans to realize that this is the state of our nation, and this is the state that people in our country are living in. Sihle’s story is so important because it’s not just his story. It’s so many other people’s stories in our country. How are we making ourselves aware of these stories? And what are we doing to change that narrative?” – says Rachel
The Kolisi Foundation has stepped up to help this young man find his way back to a normal life. They can’t take away his pain and loss, but the effort to make things better already has a profound effect on Sihle.
You can support the crowdfund via BackaBuddy here.
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