CAPE TOWN – A man with a mission walked 1 600 km across South Africa to raise funds for the Warrior on Wheels Foundation.
Niel Germishuys (52) walked from Johannesburg to Cape Town over 25 days in a campaign called #WalkingForThoseWhoCant to help the non-profit organisation that creates life-changing adventures for children with disabilities while breaking down barriers and building understanding between communities.
“I can’t just do something for the sake of doing it. I need to feel it. And then I can give all of me,” explains Germishuys on why he chose to dedicate himself to walking across the country.
A life shaped by near-tragedy
The 52-year-old was born in Walvis Bay, Namibia, but moved to Cape Town at age five where he grew up in Bellville and attended high school. It was there, at 14, that his life took a dramatic turn.
Germishuys was involved in a massive cycling accident where he tore both neck ligaments, displaced seven vertebrae in his neck, collapsed two cushions in his lower back and completely shattered his cheekbone.
“I was literally almost paralysed for life,” he explains.
This near-catastrophic experience would later create Germishuys’s deep empathy for those with disabilities – the driving force behind his charitable endeavours.
From athlete to adventurer
After high school, he joined the South African Air Force in Hoedspruit, Limpopo before the self-proclaimed ex-sportsman played rugby all over South Africa, which helped develop his competitive mindset.
“It’s you versus you. I always want to be different, do things that not a lot of people go and do,” he says.
As a young man he lived across South Africa, from Port Elizabeth and Durban to Johannesburg, before returning home to Cape Town. But it was during his time in Johannesburg that his philanthropic adventure journey would begin.
The napkin that changed everything
In 2013, while meeting someone he had connected with on Twitter for drinks, Germishuys’s idea to raise money for charities through extreme sports challenges was born.
His friend convinced him to do a well-known cycling race. After a few drinks, they sealed the deal in an unconventional way.
“If you put a signature on a handkerchief, that’s it. There’s no way out,” says Germishuys, laughing.
With only six weeks before the race, he was wholly unprepared – he hadn’t trained, was overweight and didn’t have a bike. But he was bound by the handkerchief commitment.
“And that was the first one. And it just snowballed from there,” he says.
Since then, every year he has completed various annual challenges for different charities with each challenge growing progressively more ambitious.
When plans fall apart
This year’s challenge would prove his most demanding yet. Germishuys embarked on his journey on 13 August from Johannesburg with his original plan of doing the walk assisted, which meant he would have a camper van travelling with him as he walked.
But just two days before departure, circumstances forced a dramatic change. He would have to do it unassisted, carrying a 29 kg backpack as he walked the length of the country – a change that would significantly impact everything from his speed to his daily survival.
The journey begins
On the first day, the challenges began immediately. Due to a GPS malfunction, he got lost and walked 20 km in the wrong direction where he was helped by local guides.
“I walked about four hours in the wrong direction,” he says, laughing.
With the help of a taxi, he was taken back to his route.
But it was the third day that nearly broke him. Severely dehydrated and starting to hallucinate, Germishuys found himself in desperate need of help. Then, as if by divine intervention, a bakkie drove past, braked and started reversing. The driver handed him an ice-cold Red Bull which got him through the next hour to reach town.
“You can have so many plans and you can think you are sorted out, but then eventually as you go through any journey, things can change and they will always change for the better,” he says.
The kindness of strangers
He walked from Johannesburg to Bloemfontein and from there kept on the N1, passing towns like Colesberg, Hanover and Richmond before entering the Western Cape at Beaufort West.
Throughout his journey, he encountered countless people who helped him. A TikTok follower arranged for his friend to assist Germishuys by taking his bag when he reached Colesberg. A truck driver – a former drug addict who had been clean for 12 years – stopped to talk to him, share his story, and later called to make monthly donations to the charity.
“Sometimes 15:00, 15:30 in the afternoons, then I still don’t know where I’m going to sleep,” says Germishuys. “Not one day has things not worked out. Every single day, I had a place to sleep.”
The generosity of the country overwhelmed him, demonstrating kindness across racial lines.
“This makes South Africa such a beautiful country – when you go out with the right attitude, people are going to come to you with the right attitude,” he says.
The emotional finale
After 25 days Germishuys completed the walk for those who can’t when he reached Tygervalley. But the most powerful moment came about 2 km from the finish, when he was joined by the Warriors on Wheels children and families – the very people his 25-day ordeal had been for.
“It makes everything that you did just so worthwhile because it wasn’t just lessons for you, but it also touched a lot of other people,” says Germishuys about being joined by the children in wheelchairs.
In the end, Germishuys raised R130 000 for Warriors on Wheels.
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