A father’s vulnerable Facebook post has united South Africans around a single truth: kindness still lives here and sometimes, it wears a petrol attendant’s uniform.
Johannesburg, South Africa (27 July 2025) – When Justin Roderick shared a story to the I Love Fourways Facebook group, he didn’t expect it to go viral. He wasn’t chasing likes or sympathy, he was sharing one of the hardest mornings of his life… and how a complete stranger gave him hope, when he thought he had none left.
“This morning, something happened that broke me, humbled me, and gave me hope, all at once,” Justin wrote. “Our family has been walking through one of the toughest financial seasons of our lives.”
A failed investment had shattered everything. They had sold nearly all they owned just to stay afloat.
“Every cent, every drop of petrol put in with pray and hope that it will keep the wheels turning,” he added. It was survival, one day at a time.
That morning, Justin thought he had just enough fuel to get his daughters, aged 9 and 11, to school. But halfway there, on a busy road during peak traffic, the car gave in.
“My heart sank.”
His girls burst into tears. The eldest, especially, was devastated. She had a school outing that day, and missing it wasn’t an option in her little world.
“Then I hear my little girl’s voice say, ‘Justy, I’ve got R20’ – which I had given her to buy a cooldrink on her school outing. My heart sunk even more.”
Justin had no airtime. No data. No way to call for help. Just his two daughters and a desperate plan: walk.
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They left the car behind and, hand in hand, tears still fresh, walked more than a kilometre to the nearest petrol station. And that’s where everything changed.
“I approached the first petrol attendant I saw. I held out the R20 in coins and asked if he could please help me get a little bottle filled… just enough to get my girls to school 2km away.”
The attendant told him to go to Pump 6. Another attendant, quiet and unassuming, brought a 5-litre bottle and started filling it.
Justin tried to hand over the coins. The man simply shook his head.
“Don’t worry,” he said gently. “He’s paying for it.”
He pointed back to the first attendant.
Justin was stunned.
“In that moment… it hit me so hard. I was standing there with my two girls, holding R20 in coins, overwhelmed and broken… and here was this man, a petrol attendant, a complete stranger who was filling a full 5L out of his own pocket.”
Justin was fighting back tears. His daughters were watching. And this man, who probably earns just enough to make it through his own days, gave without hesitation.
And then, as they were running back to the car, something even more unexpected happened.
“I was looking for him to thank him again, and he came running out of the store towards me. He reached out his hand as if to shake mine, but slipped something into it.”
Justin assumed it was a small note. R10, maybe R20.
Only once they were back on the road, safely moving again, did he open his hand.
It was R100.
“No words. No attention. No pride. He didn’t hold it out for all to see. Just quiet, sacrificial kindness from someone who likely doesn’t have much himself.”
The impact of that moment hit Justin deep.
“He didn’t just bless me with petrol. He gave me hope. He didn’t just get my car going. He helped carry my heart this morning.”
Justin shared the story publicly, with raw honesty, laying out his struggles and his gratitude.
“As much as I didn’t want anyone to know about my situation… I’m choosing to put my pride and ego aside to share this. Because what this man did for me… deserves to be seen. It deserves to be honoured.”
The response has been overwhelming. Messages keep pouring in. Comments stacked by the thousands. South Africans, broken in their own ways, saw themselves in Justin’s words. And in that incredible petrol attendant’s heart.
“This was such a moving post! How beautiful of this man! Incredible hearing these stories — definitely makes you see we still have kind-hearted people in this world!”
“We are privileged to live in this beautiful country, South Africa 💕💕💕”
“This blooming beloved country. At the exact moment you have that ‘screwthisshit’ moment, something like this pops up. The juxtaposition of good and evil in this place is both exhausting and exhilarating. Be like Warren.”
“What a wonderful and hopeful story. Thank you for sharing it. May the tide turn soon for your family.”
Justin then returned to the Shell Bryanston Convenience Centre, on Winnie Mandela Drive, and found the man who had restored his faith.
His name is Warren Bhebhe.
And now, South Africa knows who to thank.
“I’m a world apart from where I was yesterday,” Justin wrote in an emotional update. “The endless, crushing stress of trying to keep my family afloat has been replaced with something I haven’t felt in so long — hope, light, and an unshakeable faith in humanity.”
“This is who we are as South Africans,” he added. “Yes, we face corruption, challenges, and struggles that would break other nations. But we rise. We endure. We love.”
Warren didn’t want credit. He didn’t film his act. He didn’t post a status. But his quiet generosity has reminded a nation who we are… and what we’re capable of.
“No government, no politics, no hardship can steal the Ubuntu that lives in our hearts – only we can surrender that. And through every comment, every response to this post – we have proven we never will.”
Warren’s simple act wasn’t just a gift of money or fuel. It was a mirror held up to all of us, showing what South Africa looks like when we lead with love.
Speaking to Good Things Guy, Justin reflected on the moment and everything that followed.
“It’s been humbling and truly moving to see how the story has touched thousands of hearts,” he shared. “It’s become a powerful reminder that goodness, kindness, and humanity still run deeply in our communities and in our country.”
And perhaps most importantly, Justin reminded us:
“The solution to many of the problems we face in our country begins in our hearts. We have to be the reason someone believes in the goodness of people.”
If you would like to help Justin, or just reach out. Please feel free to WhatsApp 0762239152 or email jrpersonaltraining7@gmail.com.
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