A former gangster is donating 600 pairs of school shoes to laaities in the Tjatjies in the hope that they will not walk in his footsteps.
This after he launched his HOPE (Helping Others Prosper Everywhere) campaign last week.
On Tuesday, the ex-Naughty Boys gangster and drug addict, Sabastian Haricombe, 26, visited his old school Primrose Park Primary in Manenberg, where he handed over 42 pairs of shoes to pupils, along with his father, a former 28s prison gangster, Ralph Haricombe, 58.
This is the same school he was expelled from when he was 12.
“From the age of 10, I was hanging out with my own group of bad boys and at age 12, I was suspended from this school because I recruited other learners to join my gang,” he says.
His Grade 3 teacher Ruwayda Hendricks, 55, says Sabastian was once one of her brightest pupils before he got involved in drugs and gangsterism.
“Sabastian was a clever boy, a real mathematician,” she says.
“He was a hard worker, but he became naughty when he chose the wrong path.
“He came back to me years later and showed me how he changed his life when he found God.”
Sabastian started his project five years ago but decided to go full-time this year.
“I had a full-time job where I worked for eight years,” he says.
“While at work, my mind was always focused on the school and children.
“So I decided in March this year that I will go full-time into changing the lives of children for the good.
Sabastian would use his lunch hours at work to walk around collecting money to raise funds for school shoes.
Last year he spent R19 000 on the skoene and this year the amount doubled to R40 000.
“My project has grown rapidly over the years and I hope we get to reach out to other schools outside of Cape Town,” he adds.
If you would like to support Sabastian, call him on 063 776 4969.