The name Piet Snyman may not ring a bell with people who do not know him. He is a humble businessman whose generosity speaks volumes to the rural communities.

He is one of the big shots in business in the Giyani area, being the owner of the two Spar supermarkets in Giyani. One of the shops burnt down recently, causing damage amounting to many millions of rands. The setback did not deter him and he continues to make an impact on people’s lives.

He supports a number of orphanages around the Giyani area and has the well-known Lamino Voices Choir as one of his projects.

Snyman knows the hand that feeds him and he does not forget to give back to the communities that support him. He has adopted a local community garden project and took many village women out of a mire of poverty. He is one of the major sponsors of the Macena Community Garden Project.

In doing all this, he did not know that the community was appreciative of his good works. A fortnight ago, he received the highest acknowledgement, from the president of the country.

During his stopover at the project, Pres Jacob Zuma told the women of Macena Community Garden that they were doing a good job. The women told the president that they would not have succeeded if it were not of the generosity from the humble businessman. Zuma then called for Snyman, who happened to be at the project at the time.

Zuma said he was doing a good job that was worth emulating. “The job you are doing for our people cannot just go unnoticed. If there were many businesspeople doing what you are doing for the community, this country would be a better place to live in,” he said.

Zuma said it was very rare for big business to think of assisting communities in which they do their business, since most just looked at the profit side.

Snyman said the accolades should go to the women of the project. He said it was the commitment of the project members that was seeing the project succeed. He said he was very touched when he found the women working without any assistance but with the determination to succeed.

“I will not forget this special day and it will linger in my mind for the rest of my life,” he said.

The chairperson of the project, Ms Maria Ngobeni, said it was very hard for them before they met the Good Samaritan. “This man came as a saviour to us. We did not have anything here as we were just tilling the barren soil which did not produce anything,” she said.

She said Snyman bought them many of the things at the project and asked for the extension of the 10 hectare to a bigger 15-hectare farm. “We are indebted to this humble man; without him, we are nothing and we would not be where we are today,” she said.

Macena Community Garden started in 1992 as a care group.