“I experienced such an unbelievable outpouring of love: people phoning me, stopping me in the street, praying for me over the phone, people I have not even met…,” said AfriForum Louis Trichardt chairperson Mr Wally Schultz.

When it became known that Schultz had to undergo open eye surgery for a detached retina in the right eye, often caused by stress, he was overwhelmed even more. “I do not have a medical aid and I did not make any appeal for finances. People contacted me from all over and pledged money for the operation, should I need it. Even the Vhembe District Municipality’s former municipal manager, Mr Masala Makumule, wanted to help. When I arrived at the hospital, I had half of the money needed for the op in my pocket,” said Schultz.

The trip to the Johannesburg Eye Hospital was described as “an adventure”. Mr Fanie Otto offered to take him, but the vehicle broke down before Polokwane. Schultz’s nephew, Mr Wayne Steyn, came to the rescue and still had Schultz nearly on time for the operation on 17 September.  

“What happened next was totally unexplainable. The hospital agreed to charge me the amount that I had ready. I thought it was like a dream. God did work everything out,” Schultz said. He remembered the kindness and excellent treatment that he received. “In the light of bad stories you hear about hospitals, I told Dr Wolff, the ophthalmologist, that coming there had been such an inspirational experience for me. The doctor greeted me with the unbelievable gesture of putting a bottle of pricey eyedrops in my shirt’s pocket. I was so overwhelmed, I hugged everyone in the hospital corridor; I think some were even visitors! ” Schultz said.

On getting home on 19 September, some people in town were once again without water supply, the very thing that AfriForum and Schultz had been fighting for relentlessly. Two callers cursed Schultz over the phone because they had no water. Schultz said, however, that the tremendous kindness he had received strengthened his resolve to give his best for the town and to ignore such negativity. “This setback is actually a set-forward,” Schultz remarked.

Schultz went for a checkup with Dr Shaun Thompson in Tzaneen, who said that, technically, the operation had been successful and advised him to be patient and relax more, since the sight in his right eye had not yet returned. The left eye also has some tears in the retina. He will be checked by Dr Robert Wolff in Johannesburg on 14 October.

“From our side, we want to thank Wally for the passion with which he works for the community and for AfriForum. We sympathise with him because he is not one to relax and be patient. He was attending a water steering committee meeting when his eyesight gave way and has already attended another one since he has been back. He is always doing everything he can to help the community,” Mr Morné Mostert, AfriForum's Limpopo coordinator, said on 30 September.