This homeless man went from rags to riches in the flash of a camera.
|||A few days ago Stephen Swart was handing out sangoma pamphlets for only R50 a day but now he is a model for Mercedes-Benz.
After his lucky break, he is now more than R10 000 richer!
The 43-year-old – who has no children – revealed his troubled times as a homeless person and how he used to sleep on the streets hoping for a miracle to happen.
“I was previously married, stayed in Namibia and employed, but had financial difficulties with my then-wife who was trying to pay her debts,” he tells the Daily Voice.
“Her debts resulted in me resigning at work to help her out.”
Stephen says after resigning he “struggled to get employment as I’m a white man”.
Following his employment hardships, he returned to South Africa in 2009 and stayed with his brother.
“In January this year, I decided that I want to become a car guard because I desperately needed money of my own,” he says.
“I hiked from Bloemfontein to Cape Town for six hours then eventually got a lift with a truck driver who was coming into the city.”
On arrival, Stephen bumped into a bergie who recommended he stay at the Haven Night Shelter.
Stephen – who is well-known in Cape Town’s CBD as the man who stands at Game wearing a big hat and sunglasses – says he paid for his shelter by handing out sangoma pamphlets.
“To stay at the shelter, we have to pay R10 a night, so I had to do something to make the money,” Stephen says.
“A lady approached me as I was selling and told me she could double the money I made with pamphlets.”
He says the woman referred him to a casting agency but he didn’t bother to go.
“Then I heard about Almost Famous and wanted to sign up but never had enough money as it costs R200 for registration,” he explains.
“Three weeks ago I went to the agency knowing I don’t have money but tried my luck.
“A lady said she ‘saw something in me’ when I was there and took snapshots of me.”
Just last week, Stephen got his big break when Almost Famous contacted him saying he got the part in the photo ad.
“The lady came to the shelter and told me they want me to do a shoot for Mercedes-Benz,” Stephen says with a smile.
“I was so astonished because I didn’t think I would get it.”
“The shoot took only 15 minutes. They dressed me up and did make-up.
“I had to pick up a box of pineapples, carry it to the vehicle and put it down. There were two shots of that.”
Katrin Bohlender, a representative for Almost Famous, says: “It was a Mercedes-Benz ad for a German advertisement.
“It will only be running in the next two to three months.”
Stephen proudly adds: “From something negative, we always tend to get an even better positive outcome.” - Daily Voice