WATCH ‘I believe in SA’: The friendship gone viral
"A place is as good as the people living there. If people in this city were more open-minded, it would really make a big change," Sais du Plooy said about Mbombela this week, after a massive response to his video plea to the people of South Africa.
MBOMBELA – When 26-year-old Sais du Plooy recorded himself singing the anti-apartheid protest song “Weeping” on his way back from Johannesburg, he had no idea the social-media reaction which was to come.
He made the video just over a week ago after what he calls a “heart-changing evening” watching the Sharks play against the Lions at Ellis Park, alongside Lions player Bheki Shongwe.
“South Africa’s really been through a few dark weeks, but last night (at the stadium) told an absolutely different story,” Du Plooy said in the video, which he originally posted on Facebook and later on YouTube.
WATCH the video right here:
The former Hoërskool Nelspruit pupil said he was inspired to make the plea to South Africans to make the country a better place after hearing an artist perform “Weeping” in a beer tent before the start of the rugby game.
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He explained that it was his friendship with Shongwe that had gone viral because of “a mutual respect for rugby and people”.
“I made the video on the first take and I sent it to Bheki to ask his permission to post it. I told him that he had literally changed my heart,” Du Plooy told Lowvelder.
Since then, he has been inundated with friend requests, comments and inbox messages from around the world, including Portugal, Dubai, New Zealand, the United States and Spain. The video has been shared on several websites and Du Plooy has been interviewed by some of the country’s biggest radio stations and media houses.
“The video even went viral in Australia on Sunday. I have never done anything like this before. It is something totally out of the ordinary, but it just came straight from the heart,” said Du Plooy who is busy completing his dissertation in commercial law at the North-West University, Potchefstroom.
“I have yet to read one negative comment about the video. If it changes a few hearts, it will have been totally worth it,” he said.
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