Durban - With no money to buy food, Nomzamo Mbali Vezi knew if she did not seek help her children would starve.
Vezi, 40, lives in an RDP (Reconstruction and Development Programme) home in Welbedacht, Chatsworth, with her daughter, 19, and sons, 18 and 14.
Her daughter is unemployed, her eldest son is in Grade 11, and the youngest is autistic. He cannot speak and requires constant care.
With the country on lockdown, Vezi and her daughter were unable to find jobs.
Nomzamo Mbali Vezi thanks Brenisha Moodley in this Facebook post.
Her only income was a child support grant for the youngest son.
All she had in her grocery cupboard was a packet of mealie meal and cooking oil.
“I tried to get a food hamper but nothing came through. I was running out of time. I felt like I wanted to die. I did not know where my next meal would come from. I kept on thinking if it was just me I would have killed myself. This is what poverty does to you,” said Vezi.
Desperate, Vezi appealed for assistance on a women’s support group on Facebook.
Almost 600km away, Brenisha Moodley, of Gauteng, the director of an energy company, read the post and came to her aid.
Moodley turned 33 on April 28 and instead of spending money on herself, she wanted to give back to someone in need.
She contacted Vezi via Facebook and gave her a R1 000 grocery voucher through cellphone banking.
“When I received the notification for the voucher, I just fell to my knees and began to cry. It was tears of joy. I did not expect to receive such a huge amount from Brenisha. I felt this heavy weight just lift off my shoulders. She put a smile on our faces.”
Vezi added that it was because of Moodley’s kindness that her family would not go to bed hungry.
“In tough times like this, I have been privileged to see the spirit of ubuntu alive. Imagine taking your money meant for your birthday to help a stranger. I feel so blessed. Apart from Brenisha, two other people sent me electricity vouchers. Both amounted to R360.”
Moodley said as a child, she watched her parents, Bobby and Savy, help the underprivileged by doing hamper drives and feeding schemes.
“My father has passed away but he always told me that if someone does not have food in their home, we must always try to assist. To this day, my mother always says a smile from helping someone is equivalent to blessings from God. When I read Nomzamo’s post on Facebook their words began to echo in my ears. I knew I had to help.”
Apart from Vezi, for her birthday Moodley helped four other families with groceries.
She is also involved in feeding schemes with her husband Divash, 35.
“There will be many other birthdays for me to spoil myself. People are living in poverty and going through the same challenges as Nomzamo.
“This is an opportunity to build our nation through kindness and love. This is what the spirit of ubuntu is. We need to share what we have with each other.”