News24 | Finding Luigi: Sisters find homeless Bok superfan after long drive and search in Cape Town

Charmelle and Vanessa, the sisters of Alan Strydom, aka Luigi the homeless Bok superfan, spent the weekend in Cape Town looking for their brother.

• The sisters of homeless Bok superfan Alan Strydom, affectionately known as Luigi, spent the weekend looking for him in Cape Town with News24.
• He was declared missing in Gqeberha in February, and two weeks ago, he was spotted at a Springboks game in Cape Town after a man offered him a spare ticket.
• That act of kindness set off a series of events that led to the family’s renewed search for him ... and against the odds, we finally found him on Monday.

While South Africans tuned in to watch the Springboks play against Italy in Gqeberha on Saturday evening, sisters Charmelle and Vanessa were travelling to Cape Town, riddled with nerves.

For the past five months, the Strydom family from Gqeberha has been beset with worry, not knowing where Alan had disappeared to in February.

But this past week, they had a glimmer of hope when they saw Alan – who News24 readers have since come to know as Luigi the homeless Bok superfan – in an article.

Alan shot to fame when Johan Kotze met him under a bridge near DHL Stadium in Cape Town and invited him to the Springboks vs Barbarians game.

READ | Finding Luigi: Homeless Bok superfan’s family reported him missing, then saw him on News24

Johan’s act of kindness set off an unlikely series of events and a renewed search for Alan.

Upon arriving in Cape Town this weekend, the sisters and News24 spent three days searching for him across the Mother City.

And on Monday afternoon, he was finally found walking along Main Road in the south peninsula after a tip-off was sent to News24.

A route was planned, and against the odds, he was seen on one of Cape Town’s busiest streets.

Alan has a mental illness, and the reunion process has been sensitive and difficult at this stage. The family will now work with the Department of Social Development and the shelter where he has been staying to seek a resolution.

Nonetheless, the journey up until this point has been both amazing and unlikely, all sparked by an act of kindness, and we’d like to share it with you.

The search for Luigi

After searching for Alan all of last week, News24 learnt that Alan was a regular client at a homeless shelter in Green Point but had not been seen there for the past four days.

People at the shelter described him as a jovial character with a friendly, recognisable voice, who would pray for others and was often referred to as “Pastor”.

With this new information, the family decided it was time to travel to Cape Town to search for him. News24 joined them and the search took us to known locations where people claimed to have seen him.

The areas included:

Our best lead came on Sunday, when we learnt from a man who spent lunchtime with him the day before that he frequently visits the Company’s Garden to sit on the benches and sing.

It was there that the sisters recorded a special message for him.

“Alan, my brother, you know how much we love you. You know how much Nana loves you. We came all the way to Cape Town when we saw you in the news that you were at the game,” Charmelle said earlier on Monday, before Alan was found.

“You always said one day you will be on TV, and now you’re famous. We want to see how you’re living and why you are here. We all miss you, and everyone is asking about you. They want you to record your song, Lekker, lekker jam brood.”

A few hours later, we received a tip-off from a man named Kingsley, who had read the previous articles, that he had been spotted along Main Road in Kalk Bay and said he was walking toward Wynberg.

And it was there, on the journey south down Cape Town’s M4, that the siblings spotted their grey-haired brother, having just driven the length of the peninsula.

Now having found him, the sisters hope to resolve the situation with their brother with the help of professionals.

A psychiatric patient in Makhanda

Alan is a psychiatric patient at Fort England Psychiatric Institution in Makhanda, where he has spent the last two decades receiving treatment for a mental condition.

“We were beside ourselves with worry, unsure of his whereabouts or well-being. Our mother’s health deteriorated rapidly since Alan went missing,” Charmelle said last week.

According to the family, the hospital’s programmes have been instrumental in helping him manage his condition, teaching him valuable coping mechanisms.

“He also became a facilitator of these programmes at Fort England Hospital, helping others with the same problems as his. However, he still needs to take his medication and report back to the hospital from time to time. He defaulted on his leave from the hospital when he left home without informing anyone of his whereabouts.”

Johan Kotze, meanwhile, has been blown away by the developments since offering his spare ticket to Alan.

“He must please phone me. I want to say hello and meet up with him,” said Kotze.

“If this is the ending to the story to reunite the family with Luigi, I will be so, so happy. Amen.”

READ | This man gave his spare Boks ticket to a homeless superfan. They had a ball of a time

The family thanked Kotze for his role in locating their brother. They also thanked News24 for assisting them in the search.

“We’re thrilled that Johan’s actions brought a smile to Alan’s face and hope that this experience will have a lasting positive effect on his life. Our father, who died in 2018, was the one who instilled the love for rugby in us as his children.

“Once again, we thank Johan Kotze for being a true ‘good Samaritan’ and making a difference in our brother’s life. We hope that his selfless act will inspire others to pay it forward and make a positive impact on those around them.”

If you’d like to reach out, email feelgood@news24.com or paul.herman@media24.com.