How a tweet turned into a trip of a lifetime for a devoted granny

Random acts of kindness go a long way and this soon-to-be graduate will share her life-changing milestone with her grandmother, thanks to a simple tweet.

It all started when the University of Pretoria student tweeted that her grandmother, Hester Beukes, had been saving some of her monthly pension money for a flight to see her graduate early next year. 

Upon seeing that tweet, commercial flight company Kulula offered to pay for her grandmother's flight from Cape Town to Johannesburg. 

Soon-to-be BA law and political science graduate Inge Beukes said she was shocked and incredulous about how her tweet received so much attention.

As the first grandchild in the family to obtain a degree, she said that her 73-year-old  grandmother had started saving up for flights and an outfit for Inge's big day.

"Before and during exams my grandmother always prays for me. So she's been a part of the process. 'Thank you Jesus' is the first thing she said when I told her that I am finally  graduating," Beukes told TimesLIVE.

Kulula said it would arrange the grandmother's return trip for the graduation early next year. 

And the kindness did not stop there.

SA chain Protea Hotels offered to provide accommodation for Inge's grandmother. 

"There was a lot of screaming when I called my grandmother to tell her the news. She said 'thank you for putting me first'."

Inge's story had Twitter almost shedding a tear: