A filling station worker named Nkosikho Mbele has been rewarded handsomely by a grateful customer whom he had shown kindness to.
Ron Project reports that a lady from Gordons Bay, Monet van Deventer, had stopped at the Shell Ultra City False Bay filling station out the outskirts of CapeTown in South Africa to fill her car, which was near empty on gas. The account manager had forgot her card at home.
Nkosikho Mbele who happened to be the attendant on duty had first begun wiping the lady’s car screen before rendering the service she requested.
It was when African, Nkosikho Mbele wanted to fill her car that Monet looked through her things and could not find her card. She then realized she had forgotten her card at home. In most cases, she would be out of luck; she’d have to travel all the way back home, low on gas, to retrieve the card. That is not to mention that Monet was a young white woman at only age 21 and was traveling into a notoriously dangerous South African area by herself; so not filling up her tank would put her in even greater risk, if she were to run out of fuel on her 35-mile drive and become stranded on her own.
It is well-known and documented that the places in which Monet was heading are dangerous. In May of 2019, a young couple were shot dead when their car ran out of fuel and they had become stranded.
“I asked the petrol attendant to hold off putting fuel because I couldn’t find my purse and after a few minutes I told him that I had left my money and cards at home,” said Monet. She told Nkosikho Mbele that she would take a chance on making it to work.
Thankfully, Nkosikho Mbele was a kind and thoughtful citizen who did not care that he was black and she was white.
Nkosikho Mbele came up with a solution for the stranded lady
The 28-year-old petrol attendant then stepped in with a solution. He offered to pay for her fuel with his card with the promise that Monet would return it when next she stopped by. He knew this would help her avoid the danger of becoming stranded.
He told her, “No ma’am you can’t run out of fuel on the N2. It is too dangerous.”
He then went on to fill her car after paying R100 (₦ 2,750.98) with his own money. Currently in U.S. dollars, that is $6.62. It may not seem like a lot, but in South Africa, $6.62 can often go a lot further than it can in the U.S. because the price of food and living is generally much lower than in the U.S.
Monet said, “I was so shocked as it was such an amazing gesture and it made my day.”
Times Live reports that Monet returned later the same day to repay Nkosikho Mbele, but that was not all. She was so touched by the kindness from a total stranger that she set up fundraising for Nkosikho Mbele.
“I decided to make his kindness public and took to Facebook and then set up a crowdfunding page for him,” Monet shared.
The fundraising received $94,000 (N38,634,940.00) which equates to the man’s salary for the next 8 years. Remember, the cost of goods and services is generally lower in South Africa than in the U.S.; so that $94,000 can go much further than it could in the U.S.
Monet was surprised with the results. She said, “I couldn’t imagine people of South Africa both black and white would embrace his kindness in such a away.”
Nkosikho Mbele was so moved, and in response he said, “I was just doing what anyone else would have done, from the heart. I believe there is no black and white and that we are all one people and I just want to bring people together.”
It is noteworthy that the incident took place in 2019.
Unfortunately, all the money Nkosikho Mbele has received has put his life in danger. Monet said, “Now Nkosikho has closed the account as he says he has too much money.” He began to fear for his life because of the risks of someone attempting to rob him, after learning of all he’d received. Thus, he ordered BackaBuddy, the crowdfunding site, to hold the money and use it to pay for his children’s school fees, his bills, and to build him a house.
Nkosikho Mbele said, “My faith in God told me it was the right thing to pay for her to travel safely so I bought her fuel for her. I was just happy to see her drive away knowing she would arrive where she had to get to safely and I had no idea that I would have my life so blessed in return for what I did.”
But that’s not the end of the story. The Shell station where he works agreed to match the donations he received on the crowdfunding site by giving to a charity of Nkosikho Mbele’s choice. Mr. Hloniphizwe Mtole, the chairman of Shell even called Nkosikho to praise him for the kindness he showed. Then he informed him that Shell would be flying him to Zanzibar to join a Shell conference where he would be given a staff excellence award.
Mtole said, “We have decided to respond to what the public has done and donate a similar figure of half a million rand to a charity that you will choose to benefit those that you want to help.”
“I now have R500,000 from Shell to donate to charity and I want to help young people and make a difference in their lives and I have R500,000 to look after my own two children,” Nkosikho Mbele said. “I am going to use the money I have to make the big man up above us all very happy.”
Now Nkosikho has become a celebrity because of his simple kindness. “It is all quite amazing and when I walk round the township after work I keep getting stopped and asked to pose for selfies – my life has been turned upside down.”
