Father’s Day special: Slikour advises dads to be there

Former Skwatta Kamp rapper and entrepreneur Siyabonga Metane, affectionately known as Slikour, recently answered our dad questions and shares what fatherhood means to him. 

Being a dad is ….a daily exercise to be a better person for yourself and your kids, constantly learning that by leading a life you desire you are also leading your kids. It’s sometimes easy to get lost in the matrix and chase the world and not your path.

The last time I cried because of my kid was… today. I thought of a friend who’s child never made it and they were expecting their baby today. I just realised how immensely blessed I am. 

The last time I laughed was when my child… geez there’s so many of those. My son is a replicate of my dry humour so we out dry each other. My daughter likes using big English words when we make her angry and shame the English “t’is” broken.

My advice to other dads would be… be there… for kids to understand who they are in the world they need to understand who their parents are, without that we are starting the kids off from a zero base.

My favourite part about being a dad is… that it hasn’t robbed me from being who I am or who I want to be, in fact at times my kids are my companions on my journey to being that. 

The biggest challenge is… honestly nothing as yet. When you become a parent you forget what life was without kids.

My biggest dad guilt is when… I’m always working even when I’m at home. So when they ask me to watch something at night I sleep in the middle of the show. They’ve stopped waking me up to watch and only do that when the show is done to say good night. 

My success as a parent is measured by… I don’t have KPIs cause I’ve never done it before but it will be validated by how my kids score me in the end.

The most important affirmation I say to my child is… “That’s a beautiful thought so what you going do about it?”. If we can make our kids believe they have great ideas hopefully they won’t wait on the world to get affirmation. 

The most important behaviour/attitude I mirror for my child is… We are reserved people but we have ideas that attract a lot of attention and possibly create a lot of opportunities. I see how my son starts things and then his peers start picking up on it.

My work-life balance as a working dad is… terrible.