Mjekejeke opens up about his father's death & how they never found his grave

While his character on The Queen often offers an escape for viewers through laughter‚ Sipho Manzini has been living with an open wound caused by the way his father died and he’s opened up about the sad situation.

Sipho‚ who plays Petronella’s hubby Mjekejeke on the popular telenovela told Drum magazine that although his father died when he was only three years old‚ the circumstances around his death still caused him great sadness.

“My dad worked far away from home on the trains and he was poisoned. Mystery still surrounds not only the exact nature of his death but also his final resting place. We don’t know where he’s buried‚” said Sipho.

Sipho explained that just three days after his mother gave birth to his younger brother‚ she was told she had to go make funeral arrangements but unfortunately she wasn’t able to. When Sipho’s other family members went in her place‚ they were told that “he was buried already“. No one would tell them where.

The actor said to date his mother‚ who is now 83 years old hasn’t found peace.

“It’s painful that we don’t know where my father’s grave is but we tried everything. There’s nothing more we can do.”

Despite the pain he lives with‚ Sipho has worked hard to make a success of his career. He’s managed to kick door open for his acting career and found the love of his life and settled down.

Sipho previously told TshisaLIVE that he and his wife are inseparable and that he owes a lot of his happiness and peace to her influence in his life.

“She is really shy but such an amazing person. An angel. She is always listening and offering advice. I am grateful because she has seen me at my worst and still supports me. She has helped me through many dark days.”

Sipho recounted an experience where he was struggling with “some of the usual frustrations of the industry” and was contemplating possibly giving up but his wife made him see reason.

“This (acting) is my passion and she knows that. I was really down and she knew just what to say. She asked me why I was doing it (acting)‚ why I wanted to do it and if it made me happy. She told me to follow my heart but I knew it was her way of telling me that I could do it‚” he said with a laugh.