Durban - A Durban student has been lauded for his honesty after he returned R9000 to a father who deposited the money in error into his bank account instead of that of his sick daughter.
The man was trying to send the money to his daughter who was in hospital but had entered a wrong digit on her banking details.
Now, proud South Africans have been sending 22-year-old Wandile Ntuli, a third-year student at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, money as a reward for his honesty. Ntuli said he had already received more than R9000.
Posted by Ncumisa Fandesi-Ndelu on Tuesday, August 4, 2020
His fellow students told the university about Ntuli returning the money to the distressed father and UKZN in turn honoured him by tweeting about it on its official Twitter page.
Soon afterwards, Ntuli’s cellphone number and story were shared on social media and South Africans reacted by rewarding him with cash.
Speaking to The Mercury yesterday, Ntuli said he had received a text message from the bank notifying him that R9000 had been deposited into his account from a Mr S Khumalo.
Ntuli realised immediately something was amiss and went about trying to track down Khumalo.
He had managed to contact Khumalo, who explained his error in entering the incorrect banking details while trying to send money to his daughter.
“Unfortunately, the number that he was trying to deposit the money into is similar to mine. He punched in my details and the money ended up in my account.
“At home I was taught many things, one of them was to always be honest. At church we are taught the same thing. Our church slogan says ‘Thembeka uze ufe’ which basically means ‘be trustworthy until you die’. That’s what motivated me the most to return the money. It was the right thing to do,” Ntuli said.
He said that he was overwhelmed by the outpouring of kindness from South Africans who heard of his honesty and decided to reward him.
He said people had been sending him money via instant cash transfers to his cell number.
The youngster hails from Mbongolwane in Eshowe, northern KZN, and is a BA student at Howard College campus in Durban.
Ntuli said that with the reward money he has received, he intends to buy himself a new laptop and study material to help with his online learning.
The Mercury