Donations come in for Wiseman, the gasoline attendant who was scammed by a sarcastic motorist in a viral video

09/09/2020 Africa



[ad_1]

By Sihle Mlambo Article publication time2h ago

Share this article:

Johannesburg: South Africans have opened their hearts and wallets to Wiseman Ndabezitha, BP’s gasoline assistant who was tricked, scammed and embarrassed on video by a sarcastic motorist who left without paying his gasoline bill, much to the anger of the people in social networks.

The sarcastic motorist, who recorded the incident before fleeing the Hilton BP gas station after paying just R20 in two R10 bills, had the gasoline attendant serve R210 instead.

The motorist in the video claims that he requested “two tens” (as in 2 x R10), instead of the R210 that Ndabezitha served him.

In their exchange, a dumbfounded Ndabezithais is seen helpless as the motorist protests for R210 fuel.

On Wednesday, after much outrage over the petrol attendant’s cruel treatment, social activist attorney Tumi Sole rallied the troops on Twitter after contacting Wiseman and his boss Wayne Smith.

Sole shared the details of Ndabezitha’s bank account and donations quickly began to flood into her account.

Speaking to IOL on Wednesday, Ndabezitha said that his bank balance had been below R100 at the beginning of the day, but was now at least R289.

The father of three, who lives in Sweetwaters, in rural Pietermaritzburg, said he wants to thank everyone who donated to him and said he would post a video on social media to show his gratitude.

He dreams of building his mother, who lives in a mud house, a brick and concrete house.

“I can’t believe what people have done for me, they have really helped me, I am filled with so much gratitude,” he said.

“I had less than R100 in my bank account this morning, now there is more than R11,000, I don’t think so.

“I will make a video to thank everyone who has contributed to me.”

Ndabezitha said that although she also lived in a mud house, she first wanted to build a house for her mother.

He said he had posted the video on WhatsApp and Facebook just days after being scammed in an attempt to help other gasoline assistants stay tuned.

When he recalled the incident, he said, he was terrified that he would have to pay the money out of his own pocket.

“This affected me a lot and I thought they would let me share the video on my Facebook and Whatsapp, so that the other gasoline assistants are careful because when this happens you get stressed out a lot, because you worry that you will have to pay the money and we don’t have money to waste, it’s very stressful, ”he said.

Ndabezitha said the video started circulating on Twitter and TikTok and he would have people come to the gas station to ask what happened and he would chat with them and tell them the story.

But the sheer amount of support, along with the cash donations, is something I didn’t expect.

“There are many tricks that motorists try on us, we do our best to be vigilant, but this can happen to anyone.

“To everyone who has contributed, I am truly grateful,” he said.

Smith, who owns the gas station with his mother, said the incident occurred in January and that video of the incident appeared a few days later.

“When things like that happen, we can’t hold staff accountable for that, we just have to take a hit in these incidents, unfortunately,” he said.

Smith said that about a week after the “R210” incident, other drivers made similar attempts with “2 x R50” requests.

He said these failed as they had since asked gasoline attendants to ask motorists to specify the amounts in question clearly and unambiguously.

“These things happen, there are scammers everywhere,” joked Smith.

“We have really been surprised by the attention this has received so many months later. Wiseman is an amazing person with a big heart, he is always willing to go the extra mile to help.

“People have been calling him all day, right now he’s in my office taking all their calls from there as we talk because his phone has gone crazy since this morning. We realized that today was not going to be just any day for him, ”he said.

“What people are doing for Wiseman is really sobering, I’m very happy for Wiseman,” he said.

R210 BRACKET FOR WISEMAN

MESS



[ad_2]

Designed by Tricksfast Solutions
© Copyright 2024, All Rights Reserved