Good Samaritan pays for gogo’s groceries as panic buyers turn nasty

When 89-year-old Blythe Kruger went to do her pre-lockdown shopping, she did not expect her card would not have enough points - or that someone would stand up for her.

Kruger and her caregiver, Nontsikelelo Mduba, went to town while Kruger was under the impression her eBucks rewards stood at R500, when in fact they were only the equivalent of R50.

Her granddaughter, Angel Campey, a Cape Town-based stand-up comedian, relayed the story.

“It looked like a lot of money. Enough for bread and supplies for the week,” Campey quoted her grandmother as saying.

Things became awkward at the till.             

When Kruger tried to pay for her items, she was told she did not have enough money.

Panic buyers behind her started becoming impatient, embarrassing the wheelchair-bound elderly woman.

“Panic buyers are monsters. They started yelling at her and telling her to hurry up while she got embarrassed,” Campey said.

Her caregiver told TimesLIVE that it was at this point that a woman behind them in the queue yelled: “Shut up, this is my grandma. I don’t have a granny, and my mom is dead. Please let me adopt you as mine. It would be my honour to pay."

“We didn’t even know her,” said Mduba.

The old woman protested between her sobbing, but eventually surrendered.

The good Samaritan's name is Thenda from Bredasdorp.

“When I called my grandma this morning she was in high spirits and said she just got off a call with my new cousin, so she has pretty much become a new part of our family.

“I have a new cousin and my nanna has food,” Campey said.