BITTERSWEET COMFORT

Within days IFP leader Velenkosini Hlabisa lost his gogo and welcomed his daughter, but he’s counting his blessings despite his loss

- SIYABONGA DZIMBILI

GRIEF has turned to joy for Velenkosini Hlabisa this Father’s Day. The IFP leader has one more reason to celebrate fatherhood this year: the birth of his daughter Osimelesonke – who arrived in the world on 11 June, less than a week after the passing of his beloved grandmother, Sindisiwe Sibiya, at the age of 91.

The past few weeks have been a rollercoaster of emotion for the father of five as he reflects on family, fatherhood and the lessons imparted to him by his late dad and his gogo.

His voice is brimming with pride when DRUM catches up with him by phone.

“You look forward to your child’s arrival for such a long time, so when she finally does arrive you feel so happy and fulfilled,” Velenkosini (55) tells us.

“A child is a blessing from God, and whenever a child joins a family, it becomes a fulfillment, despite whatever else you may have been feeling at the time.”

The birth of Osimelesonke “became a great consolation”, he shares.

“I lost someone very close to me, but she was replaced by someone who will take an even bigger place in my heart,” he says, referring to his late grandmother.

He still grieves for Sindisiwe. As a schoolboy, he lived with her in Mtubatuba, a town about 200km from Durban, and she played a big part in helping him become the man he is today, as a politician, husband and father, he says.

“She’s the one who laid a solid foundation in my life, in terms of religion and education and she shaped my behaviour as a human being.”

He will always be grateful to her for her lessons, and the bond they shared.