Shock at death of the ‘Red Tie Guy’
FORMER US President Barack Obama’s law background was the inspiration behind Mikhail Hendricks’ career choice to become an advocate.
The 22-year-old Stellenbosch University law student, famously known as the “Red Tie Guy” who charmed television viewers during a 2013 speech by then-US President Barack Obama in Cape Town, died in a suspected suicide on Friday.
The university said it has learnt with “shock and sadness” of Hendricks’ death.
Hendricks, hailing from Mitchells Plain, where he was raised by his grandmother, was due to fly to Washington DC for the South AfricaWashington International Program next month.
Aubrey van Breda, Hendricks’s guardian, was his teacher at the Cape Academy when he and his family decided to take him in, providing Hendricks with a home. Yesterday, Van Breda said Hendricks came from “very difficult circumstances” but stayed humble through his trials and tribulations.
He was a board member at the Constitutional Literacy and Services Initiative, a non-profit organisation that provides ongoing training to law students from five law schools, according to the South AfricaWashington International Program.
Hendricks represented South Africa at the inaugural Euro-Brics Young Leaders Summit in Helsinki, Finland, in 2015.
His dream of meeting Obama became a reality when he was among those invited to attend the former US president’s keynote address in Cape Town four years ago.
“We were all excited when he was invited to an event where the former US president was talking. He knew about Obama, he followed him. He knew about about his university days and his involvement as a law student.
“And because of Obama’s background, it kind of inspired him to become a lawyer. When he read Obama was coming to South Africa he was ecstatic, he was blown away. That got him hyped-up. He spoke passionately about it. It was no surprise when he got invited. His whole face just lit up on screen.
“We are all proud of him and I am happy that he had a moment where he actually stood next to Obama because he really considered him a hero,” said Van Breda.
“He realised his dream and was aware of the fact he was a role model to many children in the Cape Flats. He was one of my students and had gone through difficult times.
“I could see some of the things that were problems in his life and one of those was the fact that he did not have anywhere to go to.
“It was just a natural thing to take him in and provide a home environment for him so that he could focus on his studies,” he said.
Van Breda’s wife Nicolette Hoffmann said: “He came home on Thursday. He was due to leave on June 10 for Washington DC. He was preparing for that.
“He was a very special child. I was reading his journal and as early as 2011, he wanted to be an advocate. I do not know how I am going to manage, because this child became mine.”
A role model to children in the Cape Flats