Gerome Hendriks from Rocklands in Mitchells Plain is transporting the elderly to their hospital appointments and sharing his trips on his TikTok account.
Gerome and his wife Charlene run a non-profit company called Kingdom Foundation Investors, where they are passionate about community upliftment.
The couple, who are married with three daughters, left their jobs in the printing industry to pursue community work full-time.
Hendriks offers free transportation for pensioners to and from hospital while his wife prepares breakfast and lunch for children in the area.
Hendriks started sharing videos of his trips with the elderly on his Facebook account before moving to TikTok this year.
“Every social media platform is a way for me to reach more pensioners.
“I realised there are many age groups on TikTok.
“I thought I could reach more people with the service that I offer, through TikTok.
“This could help us spread the word about what we do.”
With only a few followers shy of 10 000, his videos have received more than 150 000 likes in only eight months.
In his videos, he introduces the person he’s picking up, and the elderly have not hesitated to express their gratitude for his service.
Sometimes he will go live on TikTok when they are in the car with him.
“They’ve labelled me their personal uber. They are always excited when I am filming, and you can see their enjoyment,” he said.
Hendriks said it wasn’t always easy coordinating work with his mother’s hospital schedule when he had a full-time job.
“The elderly need to be dropped off at hospital early in the morning, and many times their families can’t get time off from work to take them,” he said.
“We realised that there is such a great need for this service. We want to bring relief to as many households as we can.”
Hendriks said TikTok has helped him assist more pensioners.
“It started with one clip that led to the next, and I started enjoying it.
“I see the service that I offer as my purpose – I was meant to do this.”
Hendriks enjoys being able to give hope to the pensioners, and to be a safe space for many of them.
“So many of them have become family to me.
“They always pour their hearts out to me about what they are going through in life.”
Over the years, Gerome and his wife Charlene have received donations and sponsorships from many people and companies.
“People will always contribute where they can. I even get taxi drivers at the traffic lights that will stop me and give me money for petrol.”
For many pensioners who drive in his car, a trip to the hospital can easily feel like an outing, Hendriks said.
“Sometimes they ask if they can drive with me for the whole day because they enjoy it so much.”
In future, Hendriks wants to continue using his TikTok account to reach more people.
“We want to show people that we are here to help.
“As long as I’m driving pensioners, I will keep posting content.”