When the love bug bites, you want everyone out there to know it.
This is what happened to Nhlanhla Nxumalo, 35, an electrical technician who wanted to applaud his wife, Sindiso, 32, as she returned to work after her four-month maternity leave.
Anyone driving on the Amalinda Main Road must have seen the giant billboard with the picture of a pregnant young woman. With it are the words: Somoya wam, Ngiyaziqhenya Ngawe, Uyathandwa (My soulmate, I am proud of you, you are loved).
It was put there by Nxumalo earlier this month, with assistance from a Johannesburg design company, to make sure his wife, who had just given birth to their last-born, was in no doubt of his feelings.
“The idea was for her to see it on her way to work. She has been on maternity leave since December. She was worried about leaving the baby behind and wondering if it was worth going back to work. So I wanted something that would distract her from thinking of leaving our baby behind with a nanny,” said the proud father-of-two.
The billboard has been trending on social media with people from all over the country sharing it on Twitter and Facebook.
Nxumalo said he was taken aback at the extent of the public attention.
“I was not really thinking about the public. I was just concerned about cheering her up for being a great mother and wife,” he told the Dispatch yesterday.
“There are many guys who do nice things for their women, it’s just that they don’t get the media’s attention. Now some of them are complaining I’ve put them under pressure,” he laughed.
But Nxumalo has also been getting a lot of positive feedback for his public display of love.
“There have been a few guys who have told me it helped give them hope in love again.
“There was a guy who is divorced and who had ruled the idea of love out, but he said the billboard made him change his mind. So it feels good to see that impact on other people.”
The couple, who have been married for seven years, met at the Seventh Day Adventist Church’s central branch in East London.
Sindiso, a lawyer at the East London Magistrate’s Court, was driving to the salon a day before returning to work when she first saw the billboard.
“The first time I saw it, we were driving together with him as passenger. As we were approaching it, I suddenly saw that it was me and I immediately knew he was behind it.”
She said the idea served its purpose. “I was really worried about leaving my child. When I went back to work, people were asking me how I am, but a lot of attention was on the billboard,” she said.
The billboard, near the Frere Hospital traffic circle, will be removed this week. — bhongoj@dispatch.co.za
Billboard love a trending feeling
This is what happened to Nhlanhla Nxumalo, 35, an electrical technician who wanted to applaud his wife, Sindiso, 32, as she returned to work after her four-month maternity leave.
Anyone driving on the Amalinda Main Road must have seen the giant billboard with the picture of a pregnant young woman. With it are the words: Somoya wam, Ngiyaziqhenya Ngawe, Uyathandwa (My soulmate, I am proud of you, you are loved).
It was put there by Nxumalo earlier this month, with assistance from a Johannesburg design company, to make sure his wife, who had just given birth to their last-born, was in no doubt of his feelings.
“The idea was for her to see it on her way to work. She has been on maternity leave since December. She was worried about leaving the baby behind and wondering if it was worth going back to work. So I wanted something that would distract her from thinking of leaving our baby behind with a nanny,” said the proud father-of-two.
The billboard has been trending on social media with people from all over the country sharing it on Twitter and Facebook.
Nxumalo said he was taken aback at the extent of the public attention.
“I was not really thinking about the public. I was just concerned about cheering her up for being a great mother and wife,” he told the Dispatch yesterday.
“There are many guys who do nice things for their women, it’s just that they don’t get the media’s attention. Now some of them are complaining I’ve put them under pressure,” he laughed.
But Nxumalo has also been getting a lot of positive feedback for his public display of love.
“There have been a few guys who have told me it helped give them hope in love again.
“There was a guy who is divorced and who had ruled the idea of love out, but he said the billboard made him change his mind. So it feels good to see that impact on other people.”
The couple, who have been married for seven years, met at the Seventh Day Adventist Church’s central branch in East London.
Sindiso, a lawyer at the East London Magistrate’s Court, was driving to the salon a day before returning to work when she first saw the billboard.
“The first time I saw it, we were driving together with him as passenger. As we were approaching it, I suddenly saw that it was me and I immediately knew he was behind it.”
She said the idea served its purpose. “I was really worried about leaving my child. When I went back to work, people were asking me how I am, but a lot of attention was on the billboard,” she said.
The billboard, near the Frere Hospital traffic circle, will be removed this week. — bhongoj@dispatch.co.za
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