“God Bless You”: Johannesburg Family Is Blessed With a New Home After Living in a Dilapidated Shack

• A family living in a dark, corroded shack made of rusty corrugated iron was gifted a brand new home, with the handover captured on video
• The emotional footage shows two women and two young children being led out of their makeshift home to discover their new house
• The video went viral with over 59,000 reactions and 1,000 comments, as South Africans blessed whoever made this possible and praised the beautiful gesture that changed the family's life

A Johannesburg family's life changed forever after a good Samaritan gifted them a brand new home to replace the dilapidated shack they had been living in. The heartwarming video, shared by Ward 103 councillor @cllr.linda.mchunu on 29 September 2025, captures the emotional moment when the family discovered their incredible blessing.

The footage begins inside the family's old shack, showing the poor conditions they had been enduring. The video reveals how dark the makeshift home was, with corroded metal sheets full of holes used for both walls and roofing. The corrugated iron had been damaged by weather and moisture over time, creating an unsafe living environment.

In the video, the family members, two women and two young children, are beckoned to come outside their shack. As they step out, they're led to a brand new home that has been built for them nearby, with the entire neighbourhood gathered to celebrate this life-changing moment.

Many people from the neighbourhood surrounded the entryway of the new home, celebrating and cheering as the family discovered what had been done for them. The joy and gratitude on everyone's faces showed just how meaningful this gesture was, not just for the family receiving the home, but for the whole community.

SA blesses those behind the new home

The video touched hearts across South Africa, with over 59,000 reactions and more than 1,000 comments from people moved by the story:

@mzwakhe blessed:

"God bless."

@crm1 noted cynically:

"They paid for it through all these cameras shoved in their faces."

@Grootman-Kuwe wished:

"May your pockets never run dry, God bless you!"

@Promanade praised:

"May the person who made it possible for the lady to have a house, may their pockets never run dry. This is too beautiful."

@Daphney prayed:

"May the good Lord continue strengthening and blessing you."

The Ward 103 community in Johannesburg

According to research done by WaziMap, Ward 103 in Johannesburg is home to over 36,000 people. Most families in the area are doing okay financially, with the average household earning around R461,000 a year - way more than what most people in Gauteng earn.

Councillor @cllr.linda.mchunu showed that even though Ward 103 is generally a well-off area, some families are still struggling. A tiny percentage of people in the ward live in shacks, which is much lower than in other parts of Gauteng, where nearly 18% of people live in informal housing.

This proves that even in wealthier neighbourhoods, some families are barely getting by. The fact that people from the community came together to build a proper home for this family shows the true spirit of Ubuntu that South Africa is known for.

View the TikTok clip below:

Other heroic community stories

• Briefly News recently reported on frantic beachgoers who teamed up to save kids stuck in beach sand, but what created the quicksand-like trap had people amazed at how dangerous a simple hole could become.
• A Checkers Sixty60 delivery driver named Simba rushed to save a burning luxury car in an estate, but the debate about who deserves recognition for the heroic act had South Africans divided.
• A kind woman stopped her car to help a disabled man who fell on a rainy day, but what some South Africans warned her about doing had people questioning whether helping strangers is worth the risk.

Source: Briefly News