Former prisoner of war tells audience to never give up on hope
He was kept in solitary confinement for more than 800 days and the only way he kept sane, was to establish daily routines
SECUNDA – “How you overome your obstacles defines who you become.”
This was the core message of Mr Wynand du Toit, a former special forces operator and a prisoner of war who has turned popular writer and storyteller.
Former Lt Col Du Toit visited the Mukumburra Shell hole of the Secunda Moths recently, during which he shared his war story, his views on the current political situation in South Africa and the need to always have hope.
There were several events in Mr Du Toit’s life that caused him severe distress, but looking back over the years, he said he would not change a thing.
He was shot and captured during a special operations mission in 1985.
Mr Du Toit said he was kept in solitary confinement for more than 800 days and the only way he kept sane, was to establish daily routines.
He reminisced on the time when he saw small pieces of a plant peeping out from the cracks of a concrete slab that was in front of his prison cell.
He tore threads off his towel, tied it to a small battery and kept on throwing it at the plant until it hooked onto the thread which he then tied to the roof.
“The creeper became stronger as it grew up the thread.”
He said the plant eventually covered some walls.
“I realised that we do not always see the threads in our lives that help us grow stronger, such as other people and the things that give us structure.”
“We have to be cotton threads for each other and lift each other up,” he said.
