Praise for Delft hero, 41

Delft residents have heaped praise on community hero Jonathan Jooste, who has selflessly served the community for over a decade.

This after Jonathan, 41, from Hague, went to search for a missing child despite his sick wife being rushed to the hospital with a heart condition on 17 December.

A neighbour who joined Jonathan in the search, Francouise April, thanked him for his hard work in a Facebook post, and the love came pouring out in the comments.

“I have watched him doing this for years and couldn’t just sit while he was risking his life to help, protect and provide for the community,” wrote Francouise.

“He doesn’t care who you are, he just helps you out of his own pocket and never complains.

“It takes courage to sacrifice time to help others while you have a family emergency, for that I respect him.”

Resident and single mom of five, Wendy Peterson, added: “Jonathan has always been part of my family.

“If I need anything, he is there to help in case of emergencies.

“I can’t thank him enough.”

Jonathan says he dropped everything to help look for the boy: “I got a call saying an autistic child was missing and the family needed help.

“I couldn’t think of anything but his vulnerability.

“I let my neighbour share the photos and information in the groups and we went to look for him.

“Luckily he was just walking up the street and we took him home.

“I know what people would say ’family first’, but my wife understands me.

“The child was found in about 45 minutes.

“Who knows what would have happened if we had waited a minute to go find him?

“He’s an autistic eight-year-old who had little or no understanding of his surroundings.”

The autistic boy was the second missing child to be returned safely home that week.

The first one was a three-year-old who disappeared at Speed Crescent on 13 December.

Jonathan also helps feed the hungry and he and Francouise are planning to open an official soup kitchen.

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