She Is My Queen

His proposal at KFC went viral – now Hector and Nonhlanhla are preparing for the wedding of their dreams, thanks to Mzansi’s generosity

- Siyabonga Dzimbili

IT’S a scene we’ve seen played out many times before – in movies, on TV, and often in real life too. There was something different about this proposal, though: it wasn’t the reveal of the ring, the handsome guy on bended knee in a crowded restaurant or the beautiful bae’s surprise that drew a reaction.

It was the magical combination of these things – in all its beautiful, raw simplicity – that melted Mzansi’s hearts.

The special moment was caught on film and spread like wildfire on social media, sending South Africans and the world into a feel-good, loved-up frenzy of euphoric generosity.

Hector Mkansi (37) and Nonhlanhla Soldaat (28), now and forever known as the KFC Couple, still can’t believe the buzz around Hector’s proposal at the fast-food restaurant in Evaton Mall in Gauteng.

They’ve been inundated with around 200 pledges and promises of wedding venues, caterers, DJs, ministers, décor, suits, gowns, honeymoons, baecations, flights, transport, cash donations of more than R300 000, magazine shoots and A-list MCs.

Hector wanted to do something special for Nonhlanhla. They’d been together for eight years and got married last year. But it was a small wedding, he says. “It was far from what we wanted and I vowed to make her feel special every year, which is what I did [at KFC].”

When Nonhlanhla spotted the ring tucked into her bag of fries Hector dropped to his knee, sending ripples of rapture across the country when he said to her, “Nkosikazi [wife], you are so special to me, will you please marry me again?

“I don’t have the financial muscle, I’m not working. If I was [working] I’d do something big, but then I thought, with us getting our rings back, let me not just give it back to you without thought.