Tears of joy as an elderly lady is blessed with a new house

- Gogo Dani Vilakazi, 80, was blessed with a new house through her neighbour’s help after decades of living in an unstable shack

- Vilikazi said her house is a ‘mansion’ and that it brought peace to her life for the first time in years

- People were touched by a video appealing for help for the gogo, which went viral on social media

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By Zakithi Dlamini - Freelance Journalist

For the first time in decades, gogo Dani Vilakazi, 80, is able to sleep peacefully without worrying about her shack collapsing on her and her family, thanks to her kind-hearted neighbour.

The gogo from Shaka's Head couldn't stop crying tears of joy when she finally opened her new house after years of staying in an unstable shack with her family of more than 17 members.

Vilikazi said she has lived in the shack since before the township was even built in her area. For years she's had sleepless nights praying that the shack does not collapse on them since it had already collapsed twice while they were sleeping. The gogo said her new house might not be a mansion but it is a ‘mansion' to her, adding it brought peace to her life.

She is grateful to her neighbour, Busisiwe Makhathini who worked tirelessly to get her out of her misery.

Vilikazi told Briefly.co.za:

“If it wasn't for Busi, I don't know how I was going to get a decent house. She promised to do something after she came and saw my house and indeed, she came to my rescue.“

Busisiwe said she couldn't sleep thinking about the gogo and contacted various people for help without success. She then recorded a video stating gogo Vilikazi's case and uploaded it on social media. Lots of people, including members of Co-Church, were touched and responded with great support, which led to the gogo’s happiness today.

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“I couldn't sleep at night. I was really touched by gogo’s situation, It really broke my heart. I would like to thank everybody who responded to gogo’s cry for help.

"May God bless them. I would like to also thank God because He made it possible for us to build this house for gogo. It is my wish to do more for her. I was humbled and deeply touched when she cried,” Busisiwe said.

Pastor Bevan Russell of Co-Church said:

“We were tagged in a Facebook post.The post was of a video of a person asking for help to restore a broken dwelling in Shakas Head. We did not know this person in the video at all.”

“When we saw the video and the condition of the house, we thought to ourselves that we had to do something to help. We didn't have in mind that we would build a new dwelling for her but wanted to do whatever we could.

"We put a call to our very new and small community of faith to give financially to this situation and we had such a generous response. Busisiwe is the one who has been at the forefront of helping gogo,” added Pastor Russell.

The elderly lady was in tears when she received her new house and she’s grateful that she no longer have to live in fear.

“When my days come to an end, I will rest in peace because I know now my family will be left in a safe place to sleep. Thanks to Busisiwe of Sakhisizwe Warriors and Pastor Russell of Co-Church who made sure that my dream came true. God bless them and all those who were involved,” gogo said.

Meanwhile, Briefly.co.za recently reported that a young man revelled in the praise after graduation, but used the opportunity to recognise his grandmother's selflessness.

Sipheleke Zond'amaxoki Nongqotho shared a touching Facebook post to honour the most important woman in his life. The young man graduated recently and revealed the key role his gogo played in his success.

His inspirational post explained:

"When am looking at this woman I don't just see an ordinary person, I see a hero. She worked very hard for me to be where I am. She saw lights that were so bright for me to see she pray for me. My mom stood up for me when I couldn't stand. Mama enkosi mathaba, mxasana. Lockdown couldn't stop is from celebrating our celebration."

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Source: Briefly News