A twenty-eight-year-old petrol station attendant in the South African city of Cape Town, has been rewarded more than R500,000 (around $10,400AUD).
Nkosikho Mbele had previously paid for a woman’s petrol out of his own pocket after realising she had left all her bank cards at home.
Mr Mbele, who works at a Shell-branded station gave the woman £5 of his own money to assist the woman, rather than to leave her alone without any options.
In return, Ms Deventer the woman whom Mr Mbele assisted, set up a crowdfunding campaign to repay Mr Mbele. So far, the money raised is reportedly more than eight times Mr Mbele’s yearly salary.
Mr Mbele told local broadcasters: “I was just doing what anyone else would have done, from the heart. I believe there is no black and white and that we are all one people and I just want to bring people together”.
Ms Deventer said: “I asked the petrol attendant to hold off putting in fuel because I couldn’t find my purse and after a few minutes I told him that I had left my money and cards at home”.
“I said I would chance making it to work but he just said, ‘No ma’am, you can’t run out of fuel on the N2, it is too dangerous,’ and said he would put R100 (£5) of his own money into my tank.
“I was so shocked as it was such an amazing gesture and it made my day. I decided to make his kindness public and took to Facebook and then set up a crowdfunding page for him.
“I couldn’t imagine people of South Africa both black and white would embrace his kindness in such a way and now Nkosikho has closed the account as he says he has too much money.”
Mr Mbele said he knew that stretch of road where Ms Deventer was to travel on, was dangerous.
“I know how dangerous that stretch of the N2 is that she wanted to travel and my faith in God told me it was the right thing to pay for her to travel safely so I bought her fuel for her,” Mr Mbele said.
“I was just happy to see her drive away knowing she would arrive where she had to get to safely and I had no idea that I would have my life so blessed in return for what I did.”
Shell also contributed to Mr Mbele’s reward, giving him R500,000 to donate to charity.