Greg Maloka on raising 11 kids

From the second he found out that he was going to be a father, Kaya FM managing director Greg Maloka was adamant that he wanted to be as involved in the creation of his children as possible. 

The father of 11 said that this was because he has witnessed far too many scenes growing up of families going to other families’ homes in his home township of Diepkloof to report ‘inhlawulo’ (damages) and decided then and there that he did not want that to be his story. 

“I wanted to be involved in the idea of their creation, because I remember I had seen growing up in Diepkloof, panic amongst guys to say ‘oh man, she says, you know…’ Then you would see when they come to report a pregnancy,” said Maloka. 

Inhlawulo is a Zulu word used to refer to damages (a fine) paid to the family of a woman who became pregnant out of wedlock by the father of the future child.

The process is such that when the woman informs her family of her pregnancy, they dress her in traditional regalia and accompany her to the home of the father of her child where they “report” the pregnancy to his family before initiating negotiations to reach a settlement amount of sorts. 

“I never wanted that, I’m very glad that I was involved in the creation of all my children.” 

While Maloka only fathered four of his 11 children, he is reluctant to draw any distinction between his children as he views them all as his own. 

Make sure to stay tuned to Parenty for the full story and video this week where Maloka will unpack his thoughts on this and other matters with Parenty’s Karabo Mokoena.  

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