The adage that there is a silver lining in every dark cloud became reality for Sinenhlanhla Ngubane, a poultry farmer who had 174 of her chickens killed.

Several South Africans have since donated R10,000 to Ngubane so she can rebuild her poultry business,  while others offered to buy her chickens.

 Ngubane said she was grateful that Sowetan had told her story in order to get help. 

“God has truly showed up for me, and at the moment we are busy building a chicken coop. They started on Monday with foundation because they are extending the one that I had. People have donated about R10,260, and a lot of people came through for me. With the donation money I bought material for extending the chicken coop,” she said.

Last week Sowetan reported on  Ngubane's plight after she woke up to her nightmare when she discovered that 174 of her chickens were hacked with a panga.  Sne, as the 22-year-old from eManguzi in KwaZulu-Natal is fondly known, had used the poultry business to pay fees for her first-year study at university. 

She said to make sure that her chickens were safe this time around, she also bought burglar bars, lights for both inside and outside the chicken coop.

“I have bought the chicks but have to wait before they are delivered as  they are still building the coop. And there is someone who promised to donate 1,000 chicks and they will be delivered when the coup is complete. I am so happy. The past few days were stressing as I felt that my dream had gone down the drain. I am so grateful for the help. I  got help from people from across the country. I have other farmers who also want to mentor me. I am now crying tears of joy,” she said.

Ngubane said her dream to own a bigger poultry farm was  closer to reality.

“Now I have to start focusing on marketing my farming so that I have clients that I can supply with chickens and eggs. This will change my life for the better and your newspaper was part of this wonderful journey for me,” she said.