The Zimbabwean Man Who Retrieved US$100 000 and Gave It Back

It has arguably been stated by many scholars that in the last decade, people have become less altruistic and more greedy. Some have gone further to argue that individualism has destroyed the idea of good samaritans and that those who purport to be good samaritans purely do it for money and or publicity. While there may be some element of truth in that reasoning, the undeniable reality is that not every good Samaritan is a poser. It may come as a shock to many but there are actually people such as Mlondolozi Mpofu who have a genuine interest in helping others without expecting anything in return.

Mr. Mlondolozi Mpofu recently shocked many when he retrieved US$100,000 and three pistols from a cash-in-transit vehicle while driving to Hwange. The cash-in-transit vehicle which belongs to Safeguard Security was on its way to Bulawayo when it got into a grisly road accident in Lupane district in Matabeleland. Mr. Mpofu who was the first person at the scene not only secured the contents of the vehicle but also rushed one of the injured guards to hospital.

While Safeguard Security has come out to express their gratitude to Mr. Mpofu, many locals think that they should have given him more than just a mere 'thank you'. Many think that the company should have given Mr. Mpofu some sort of monetary compensation because "they are lucky that they got the money and pistols back in a country where a vast majority are struggling to meet their basic needs". A few were of the view that Mr. Mpofu should have kept the money and pistols and sold the foreign currency in the black market given the current foreign currency shortages plaguing the country.

It would seem that Mr. Mpofu is nonetheless content with the 'thank you' and as such is one of the few who simply are just that....good Samaritans. In his statement of gratitude Mr. Warren King, the managing director of Safeguard Security said:

We would like to than Mr. Mlondolozi Mpofu, who witnessed the accident for assisting our crew while the ambulance and a Safeguard relief vehicle were on their way. Mr. Mpofu kindly transported one of the crew members to St. Luke's Hospital in Lupane where he was treated and discharged. The other crew member was taken by ambulance together with the body of the deceased crew member, to the United Bulawayo Hospitals where he too was treated and discharged."

Header Image Credit: My Zimbabwe News