Jobless dad goes the extra mile tracking down purse owner

An unemployed KwaZulu-Natal father of two held onto a woman’s wallet for a month until he was able to return it.

Mbuso Ndlovu, 33, had been visiting his partner, Durban domestic worker Thembile Zondi, last month when he found the wallet among some of her work items. There were bank and clothing account cards inside.

“She was working at a market and she found the wallet,” he said. “She could not find out whose it was. That is when I said I would try to find who it belongs to.”

Ndlovu looked inside and found clothing and bank cards, as well as a driver’s licence for someone named Charlize Tomaselli.

Tomaselli, the owner of the wallet, lost it while she was at Bellevue Market in Kloof.

“I was at the market with my kids who were playing with my handbag when it probably fell out,” she said.

Ndlovu took to social media to trace Tomaselli.

“I decided to look her up on Facebook and tell her that I had found the item. I messaged both her and her husband whom I found on her profile, but never received a response.”

Since Tomaselli and Ndlovu were not Facebook friends, the message ended up in a separate inbox that users seldom check.

“He sent me a message on Facebook, but I did not see. It did not pop out. I never saw it for a month.

“I cancelled my store cards and bank cards and was in the process of getting a new driver’s licence,” Tomaselli said.

Coincidentally, she saw the message when she checked other messages.

“Someone else sent me a message and I happened to see it. I read it and was sceptical at first and thought it was a scam.

“However, when I contacted him, he described the wallet to me in detail, including what all the cards were for.”

Tomaselli said she was hesitant when Ndlovu said he wanted to meet.

“This is how you hear about scams starting. But being the person that he is, he suggested the police station might be a good meeting point.”

Ndlovu said he wanted her to feel at ease. “I did not know how she lost her wallet. What if she was robbed and was scared? I decided to suggest the police station to make her feel better.”

Tomaselli and her husband then made the hour-long journey from Westville to the KwaDukuza police station where they met Ndlovu.

She said that when he gave her the wallet, not a single item was missing.

“Everything was still in it. At no point did he try to illicit money or favours or anything that could be construed as malicious.

“He said his girlfriend found it and she knew nothing about Facebook. He then tracked us down online and sent us the message.”

Tomaselli offered him money, but Ndlovu said he would rather have a job.

“I said I would put it out there on social media. In the event that a position becomes available for him through somewhere, we will contact him.”

Her post on his kind deed has since been shared more than 200 times.

Tomaselli said she had spoken to people about meeting Ndlovu and how nervous, but hopeful she was.

“I was at a client and I was saying that some people are just good. “After meeting him I felt ashamed that I had been so nervous to go out to meet him.

“He really does just seem like he embodies all the goodness in humanity.”

She said that despite the ease with which Ndlovu could have used her cards, he did not.

“At no point was there any activity on my cards. I had store cards which are really easy to commit fraud with.

“You just hand the store card over and a transaction can be completed. But there was none of that.”

Ndlovu said he never once thought of stealing or using anything in the wallet.

“You know I am desperate because I am not working, but I said no because I do not do that.

“I was not brought up to steal and I thought maybe this person was robbed or worse. I am not that kind of person. It is not the way I was taught.”

He said honesty was an important trait for all to have and that he hoped to find work soon.

“I just want to do good and make an honest living.” – News24 Wire