Mokebe siblings in Alex overcome the odds

Alexandra resident Siyabulela Mokebe and his four siblings have come a long way in life since the passing of their mother and father in 2008 and 2009 respectively.

Mokebe’s mother, Dikeledi Mokebe, died while giving birth to boy twins in April 2008 at the Edenvale Hospital Mokebe then was only 12 years old and his elder brother, Simphiwe was 15. All hell then broke loose for the little children the following year when their father, Mthunzi Sodladla, first lost his job and later died in September 2009.

“I and my brother suddenly found ourselves as the parents and breadwinners to the boy twins and our little sister. We had to ensure our siblings were fed, clothed and bathed every day,” Mokebe told Alex News.

At 13 years old, Mokebe wrote a letter to Mama Angel explaining their plight and predicament since the death of both their parents. A guardian gogo was found for them in East Bank but things did not work out well.

Later, the children were moved to a shelter in Marlboro but were then separated. Mokebe and his brother, as they were older, were moved to another shelter also in Marlboro.

But Mokebe and elder brother, as the pair did not like the idea of being separated from their other siblings, absconded from the shelter and returned to the family shack behind the Thusong Youth Centre.

Then in high school at Minerva, Mokebe said a teacher took him and his brother under her wing and contributed to their upkeep, along with other families on the shack compound.

“A cousin of our mother was finally located after many years and the twin boys, who will be going to Grade 11 next year [2024], are still living there but the girl joined Mokebe at their former parents’ home and their elder brother, who got a job and married, got a house in Alex and are blessed with a child.

Mokebe matriculated from Minerva in 2013 and the following year enrolled for a BSc in Chemical Engineering at Wits University but it did not go well so he branched into education and graduated in 2020.

To his surprise, just before he graduated he got an anonymous SMS that instructed him to go for a post at Hyde Park High School where he now teaches maths and science.

“Up until today, I still don’t know how I got to Hyde Park High nor does the principal of the school who too got an SMS to the effect that there was a young man who will be joining the staff in 2021 for a maths and science post,” Mokebe said.

As siblings, Mokebe, who now resides in Randburg, said they still have a strong family bond and from time to time they all set up a date to visit their elder brother and treat themselves to braais etc. “I still have a dream to buy ourselves a family home which will belong to no one but will be a family home for all,” Mokebe said.