“I want to feel the rain, I want to go to Suncoast. Now I will be able to go outside, I can push myself all the way to West street,” said an excited Zondi., when a group of Durban emergency personnel staff physically carried him down the eight flights of stairs and helped fulfil his wish to go to the beach.Zondi’s mother, Zamajali Ngcobo, was beside herself as she watched her son enter the lift. Ngcobo thought back to the day a tremor hit Durban in October, a day she felt helpless.
“We looked outside and saw everyone standing at the bottom and I lost it. I thought, how will I get downstairs with my son. I left him outside and went down, but then I thought how can I leave my child, so I turned around and went back because if he died I would die with him,” said Ngcobo. At the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Zondi reminded the crowd of residents that had gathered to witness the relaunch of the working lift, that it was for everyone.
“This lift is not for me, it's for everyone, so people must not get the idea that this is for me alone. I am thankful to God almighty,” he said.