FORMER MUVHANGO star Tiisetso Mona Monyane has praised South African men who are playing an active role in their children’s lives and has urged them to continue doing so. Mona, who played the dark-skinned medical doctor, Nthabeleng in the daily soapie, says men who play a role in their children’s lives will give the children the stability that will go a long way in making them confident adults.
MONA PRAISES CARING FATHERS
She herself was raised by a single mother and started to have a relationship with her father at the age of 15. Her parents were anti-apartheid activists exiled in Zimbabwe, where she was born before moving to South Africa as a toddler. And for this, she never got to know her father until her early teens. “It was very hard growing up without my father as a constant figure in my life. My mother did everything she could, but every child needs both parents because mothers can’t be expected to provide everything on their own,” says the actress. To prove her stance on the importance of a father’s presence on children’s lives, she recently posted a statement on social networks where she praised all responsible fathers.
HARD GROWING UP
Without getting deeper into what made her mother separate from her father, Mona only recalls meeting him once in a while. “I met him when I was six years old, met him again when I was 13 and then again at the age of 15,” says the actress, a drama graduate from the University of Pretoria. “We are communicating now and I’m not angry at all. My mother did all she could for me ... I can’t really complain, but it was very hard growing up without my father.” She also believes that a girl raised in her father’s presence, learns how she should be treated as a woman.
HIT BY ACTING BUG
After returning from Zimbabwe with her mother, they then settled in Katlehong, east of Johannesburg, and later moved to Pretoria. But before she even became a teenager, Mona had long been hit by the acting bug. “Since primary school, I was always involved in arts and culture activities. I then enrolled for Grade 8 at the National School of the Arts, before studying for a degree in drama at the University of Pretoria,” she recalls. Having graduated in 2011, Mona has directed about four theatre plays, including one called Mavis – a story about how domestic workers are neglected and sometimes mistreated by their employers. “Domestic workers are very important,” she insists. “They know you (employer) inside and out and you rely on them heavily for domestic satisfaction. I like directing plays that talk about real life issues.”
