“Do good and good will come to you.”
This adage rings especially true for a local hospital porter who went above and beyond the call of duty to return a stranger’s lost wallet basically intact.
Maggie de Gouveia from Somerset West expressed her sincere gratitude to Simphiwe Ncindelo of Mediclinic Vergelegen for his admirable deed, which not only serves as an example for others, but also restored her faith in humanity.
She recounted assisting a fellow Heritage Park resident around 16:00 on Friday 10 January. The woman whose father had been a loyal customer of her husband’s business, Strand Fisheries (since closed down), needed a lift to a local shopping centre to run some urgent errands. Without hesitation De Gouveia offered to help by jumping in her Toyota Fortuner.
On returning home around 19:30 that evening, she received a call from a security officer at the apartment complex, informing her a man by the name of Simphiwe was at the main gate with her wallet. “I remember turning to my husband and saying, ‘I don’t know a Simphiwe,’ and asking him to go to the gate for me. When my husband got there, he called to confirm that the man did indeed have my wallet. I replied, ‘I don’t believe it, because my wallet is in the car’s glove compartment, where I left it’.”
But this clearly was not the case, and the De Gouveias were naturally curious to know where Ncindelo had found the wallet. They were shocked to learn he had picked it up while walking home from work along the Van der Stel bridge. “I was on my way home with a colleague when I stumbled across two store cards,” the good Samaritan recalled.
“I picked the cards up, and just before destroying them I spotted the wallet. Thinking that perhaps the owner was the victim of a possible crime, I collected everything. I checked the wallet in an attempt to trace the owner, finding an ID and a letter with the details of the likely owner’s address. I had initially planned on taking it to work with me the next morning, where we could check whether the owner was a patient at the hospital. But I decided to track the owner down myself.”
He called an e-hailing service and went straight to De Gouveia’s place of residence.
Asked what had motivated him to go through all the effort to return the wallet, Ncindelo said: “It was just the right thing to do. If I were to lose my wallet I would hope someone would spare me the schlepp of replacing my cards and return my belongings.”
According to De Gouveia her wallet had everything except her bank card, and an undisclosed amount of money was returned, all thanks to Ncindelo who is the true definition of humility and compassion.
“Always be honest, you have one name and always look out for it, and remember that no good deed goes unseen and there are good people in this world,” extended De Gouveia.
Asked how he felt after this exemplary deed, which he deservingly is praised for, the 29-year-old Zola resident exclaimed: “I feel like a hero!”
Ncindelo’s superior Egram Pekeur, financial administration manager at Mediclinic Vergelegen, expressed his pride of the staffer, who went to great lengths to return property that had not even belonged to a patient at the medical facility. He highlighted that the efforts were a testament to Ncindelo’s character as a noble and honest person who has been employed at the hospital for eight months. “Ncindelo is employed as a porter by JC Security, an outsourced company for which I oversee all the porters at the hospital,” Pekeur explained.
“He was among the candidates interviewed for the position, but he initially lacked some of the required skills. However, the company helped him obtain the necessary qualifications, including a specific driver’s licence. This was because he was our preferred candidate; we were impressed by his conduct during the interview process, his politeness and approachability. It’s always gratifying to know you helped hire the most suitable person for a job.”
