Nkimi back on the road again

NKIMI Ngema is back on the road once again after receiving his new wheels four months after an accident.

The 67-year-old single father of Endabayakhe, who earns a living collecting firewood on Zululand’s busiest roads, was knocked down by a passing motor vehicle on the John Ross Parkway in November last year.

Although Nkimi was fortunately unharmed, his cart was a mangled wreck.

Following the incident, Multilayer Trading (MLT) Empangeni owner Kennedy Pearson stepped up and undertook to rebuild his treasured cart.

‘Nkimi is a man prepared to work, so I was prepared to help,’ said Pearson.

Shortly after the incident, MLT collected the damaged cart and after struggling for months with a lack of funding, repairs finally began.

‘It took two weeks to build the cart,’ said Pearson. ‘It was built from scratch out of our own pockets.’

The wheels were sponsored by WAP and the stickers by Richards Bay Signs.

Nkimi, who could not contain his excitement, spent time ‘test driving’ his new cart, which included major improvements such as a lighter structure, steering and a hand break.

Sizwe Khuzwayo, who assisted in building the cart, was delighted to see Nkimi’s reaction. ‘It’s great to see him so happy.’

This was the second time Nkimi was run over by a passing vehicle and his cart smashed up. After this incident on the N2 a few years ago he spent a whole year recovering in Ngwelezana Hospital and Ngema thought he would never work again.

But in 2013 he was given a new lease on life with a new wood cart courtesy of ABI.

@AmesJenks