Nhlanhla Mafu. Picture: Instagram @nhlanhla_mafu
Mafikizolo’s other half Nhlanhla Mafu recently opened up about her hearing loss and how she struggled during interviews and with her social life.
She said she felt embarrassed to do interviews because her music partner, Theo Kgosinkwe always had to repeat questions for her.
“Even when I am just chilling with friends, sometimes I would just laugh without knowing what people are laughing about. Be agreeable to everything because I couldn’t hear.”
Speaking to audiology hearing and balance specialist, Nhlanhla said she had to deal with her loss as soon as possible.
“I realised that I am doing this for my own good, and I needed to do it because the longer I let it go, the more my hearing got worse.”
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Nhlanhla said having been in the music industry for 26 years, she has been exposed to a lot of noise.
“You can imagine how long I have been in the space where there is a lot of sound, like 60 or 70% of the time. Whether I am recording, travelling, or performing. Literally everything around me has high levels of noise.
“I think that’s what really started the problem. And I delayed it because I thought there are other people around me and they are not having the same problem, so it can’t be. I thought maybe it’s just something that would go away, and it kept getting worse as the years went by until I realised that this is a serious problem.”
Many celebrities, including Sophie Ndaba and Melanie Bala, have since applauded Nhlanhla for sharing her story.
Melanie also briefly shared her experience with hearing loss. She wrote: “I really admire you sharing this with us sis. My mom has hearing loss in one ear, and it’s amazing how you learn to compensate for it and navigate the world, especially when you haven’t shared it with anyone else (yet). Kudos to you.”
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