Tsotetsi and 11 others climbed the highest mountain in Africa to raise R2m to help Tsotetsi’s son, Molemo, and other burn victims by buying a laser machine for the Johnson & Johnson Burns Unit at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital in Soweto, Johannesburg.
Tsotetsi’s sons, Kutlwano and Molemo, were aged three and five when a faulty electrical socket caused a fire in their home in 2014. Kutlwano died in the fire. Molemo survived, with burn wounds across half his body.
Tsotetsi and the team left for Tanzania on June 16. They have since raised R1.8m and started a crowdfunding page to raise the remaining R200,000.
The team hiked eight hours non-stop on the final night to summit the mountain at 7am.
“We celebrated with tears of joy. We just hugged and held each other while weeping. We couldn’t believe we’d actually made it.”
The Smile Foundation said in a statement on Wednesday: “Molemo, who loves cartoons and car racing games, is still receiving regular laser treatments for his injuries at the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital in Cape Town. However, the travelling costs are substantial for the Tsotetsi family, who have already endured so much.”