- A Cape Town man who lost his job during the Covid-19 lockdown has turned to placard humour.
- Lusisindo Malgas stands at traffic lights in the Table View and Blouberg area with his funny slogans and hopes potential donors will drop him a note or two.
- A BackaBuddy page has also been set up to raise funds for him so that he can buy a house for himself and his children.
Using witty placards, a Cape Town dad brought some cheer to people at traffic lights in the vicinity of Table View.
Lusisindo Malgas and his signs are a familiar sight at the traffic lights along the R27, which passes through Dolphin Beach, Table View and Sunningdale.
"Need petrol 4 my Porsche", "Let's do lunch, u buy" and "Will cut Malema's hair for R20" are on some of the signs he holds.
Malgas's upbeat demeanour is also infectious, despite the fact that he lost his job as a packer and misses his children, who had to be sent to their grandmother in the Eastern Cape.
When he realised he would have to beg for money, he decided to add a sprinkle of humour to an otherwise bleak situation.
How will I survive?
"When I lost my job, I was like what am I going to do? How am I going to survive? All I know is how to make people laugh and how to talk to people. I had no choice but to work and put food on the table," he told BackaBuddy.
Many people sleep at one of the intersections he stands at, and some play chess to pass the time or walk through traffic to ask for spare change.
A BackaBuddy campaign to help Malgas, with a fundraising goal of R250 000 for a house in Khayelitsha, was set up with the help of Brendan Cottle who was moved by Malgas's story.
Cottle explained that Malgas would like to buy a house for himself and his children. He wants to move out of Du Noon because it is not safe there, and relocate to Khayelitsha.
He also hopes to transfer his placard wit to a T-shirt range.
Watch a Quest Films video of Malgas's story here or donate to the fund for his house here.
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