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TV personality Aletté-Johanni Winckler, wife of singer Heinz Winckler, yesterday shared a moving video on her Facebook profile in which she surprised their Zimbabwean housekeeper Thoko with money to help pay off her house.
The Wincklers’ church in Somerset West raised the money to help Thoko. Every Nation has a fund that helps people in need and last week Aletté-Johanni e-mailed the fund’s manager and suggested Thoko as a possible beneficiary.
Heinz captured the moment Aletté-Johanni broke the news to Thoko in their kitchen while their three children played nearby. In the video Thoko is so overwhelmed by the news that she collapses on the floor in tears.
Thoko has three children – all under 18 – who until recently lived with her father and stepmother, Aletté-Johanni told YOU, and a recent change in circumstances meant the children could no longer live with their grandfather.
Over the festive season with her uncle and sister’s help, Thoko used her bonus to buy a house in Zimbabwe where her children could live. One of the women from their church will live with the children and look after them.
Although Thoko paid a deposit the owner of the house wanted full payment as soon as possible, says Aletté-Johanni. Every night when Aletté-Johanni passed Thoko’s room she heard Thoko crying and praying for a breakthrough.
“When I saw Thoko was despondent I asked what was wrong,” says Aletté-Johanni. “Then we prayed together and I encouraged her.”
In the video you can see the Wincklers’ startled sons asking: “What’s wrong? Why is she crying?”
The two youngest children, Simeon (4) and Reuben (2), were terribly moved by Thoko’s emotional reaction. Reuben immediately went to fetch a tissue for Thoko. “But Heinz stopped the video too soon; Thoko afterwards jumped up with her hands in the air,” says Aletté-Johani.
Thanks to the fund-raising efforts Thoko could pay off R20 000. For the time being she’s staying with the Wincklers while her children are being cared for by the lady from the church.
Aletté-Johanni says she shared the video with her friends and fans to inspire others to start similar projects. “You can change someone’s life and it brings so much hope.”
