An Afrikaner who led his wife and two children on a trek from Limpopo to East London in pursuit of happiness has died.
Kindly Khulukazi Ndwanya of Scenery Park Phase 1 made headlines late last year when she took Stuart Jacobs, his wife Lettie and their daughters Angelique, 9, and Monique, 14, into her home and cared for them.
Ndwanya’s hospitality was described at the time as a true act of ubuntu but the two families subsequently fell out.
Jacob was said to be suffering from asthma and died in his sleep on Friday night. Lettie and the children were with him in their shack.
He was making a living by driving a taxi from the township to Amalinda.
The family is now temporarily living with Gerda Adlam in Gonubie.
She took them in shortly after Jacobs’ death. A heartbroken Lettie said the children were devastated.
“I took them to the beach to clear their minds. My mother and brother have arrived from Bloemfontein to take us back,” she said.
“In his last days Stuart and I spoke about his death and he said he wanted to be cremated as he did not want to pollute the water by being buried,” Lettie said yesterday.
“He died peacefully as he was resting; he did not even make a sound.”
She said he had been in and out of hospital. She would wait for his ashes in Bloemfontein.
Adlam said she met the husband and wife for the first time on Friday morning after hearing about their plight from a black colleague who lived next to them.
“After seeing they were needy I decided to get them a mattress for the children and also bought them a paraffin stove because they were using wood to cook outside which was a big problem on rainy days,” she said.
She said late on Friday evening Lettie had called to inform her of Jacobs’ death, prompting her to take them in.
“Lettie needs to be strong for her and her children. She needs to make a life of her own now,” Adlam said, adding the couple had touched and changed her life in just two days. — zwangam@dispatch.co.za
Limpopo father in search of happiness dies in Scenery Park
Kindly Khulukazi Ndwanya of Scenery Park Phase 1 made headlines late last year when she took Stuart Jacobs, his wife Lettie and their daughters Angelique, 9, and Monique, 14, into her home and cared for them.
Ndwanya’s hospitality was described at the time as a true act of ubuntu but the two families subsequently fell out.
Jacob was said to be suffering from asthma and died in his sleep on Friday night. Lettie and the children were with him in their shack.
He was making a living by driving a taxi from the township to Amalinda.
The family is now temporarily living with Gerda Adlam in Gonubie.
She took them in shortly after Jacobs’ death. A heartbroken Lettie said the children were devastated.
“I took them to the beach to clear their minds. My mother and brother have arrived from Bloemfontein to take us back,” she said.
“In his last days Stuart and I spoke about his death and he said he wanted to be cremated as he did not want to pollute the water by being buried,” Lettie said yesterday.
“He died peacefully as he was resting; he did not even make a sound.”
She said he had been in and out of hospital. She would wait for his ashes in Bloemfontein.
Adlam said she met the husband and wife for the first time on Friday morning after hearing about their plight from a black colleague who lived next to them.
“After seeing they were needy I decided to get them a mattress for the children and also bought them a paraffin stove because they were using wood to cook outside which was a big problem on rainy days,” she said.
She said late on Friday evening Lettie had called to inform her of Jacobs’ death, prompting her to take them in.
“Lettie needs to be strong for her and her children. She needs to make a life of her own now,” Adlam said, adding the couple had touched and changed her life in just two days. — zwangam@dispatch.co.za
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