Local car guard labelled a ‘star’
Eastmans Spar's Gabriel's gesture has earned him the respect of the community.
DURBAN North resident, Sean Barnabas, expressed his gratitude to car guard, Gabriel Thabethe, for finding his wallet that was left in a trolley at Eastmans Spar over the weekend.
Speaking to Northglen News, Barnabas said he had gone shopping at the centre on Sunday and only realised when he was at home, that his wallet was missing.
“I had R500 in my wallet but it’s not so much about the money that was inside it but more about the other stuff in the wallet,” he said.
After dropping his children at school on Monday morning, Barnabas went to Eastmans Spar and when he arrived at the front desk, he was told that Thabethe had brought his wallet, with money and cards intact, to the front desk after finding it in the trolley at the upper level parking lot.
“I was so relieved. I have nothing but praise for Gabriel. He is such a friendly chap and I am so thankful that he found my wallet,” Barnabas said.
Thabethe has become quite the Facebook celebrity over the last week with residents expressing their praise for the “always smiling” guard. Thabethe (24) has worked at Eastmans Spar for seven years.
When asked what keeps the smile on his face firmly in place, he said; “Just seeing people makes me happy. When I see people, I get happy.” He added that he wasn’t aware of the hype his smile and friendly persona was creating on Facebook.
“On Monday, people were coming to talk to me and more than 10 people told me they read about me but I didn’t know what they were talking about. I thought I was in trouble. No one from Spar came to talk to me and I wanted to go home,” he said. It was only when a resident brought him screen shots of the Facebook post that his fame. “I just love helping people,”he added.
The Facebook post has been seen by more than 400 people with almost 150 comments all complimenting Thabethe on his friendly attitude.
Merle Wilson, who posted the initial post on Facebook wrote; “I would just like to give a thumbs up to him. He is a delightful young man who is always eager to help young and old alike. He brightens my day with his big smile and his commitment to his job. Well done Coachy. You are a star!” Thabethe said he would like to be promoted into the role of car guard manager at Eastmans Spar as there are a lot of car guards at the centre.
