Morake pays mom homage

THERE’S only so much you can find out about

Tumi Morake from the stage, screen and internet. Her debut book, And Then Mama

Said, is out.

It is a perspective of a South African star who is loved and hated.

Morake has modelled her public persona on her mother – a woman who used her big, bold voice to say what others were afraid to utter. It’s the personality Tumi has taken on stage in the mostly male space of stand-up comedy, the one that gave her the courage to comment about apartheid on air.

“This isn’t my biography, but a collection of memories from my life. I have shared some of the things that have made me resilient and shaped the persona of Tumi Morake.

“I have often been asked to share my story and I thought what better way than by honouring the woman who made me who I am, my mother,” she says.

In the memoire, Morake gets frank about the race row at Jacaranda FM; the car accident cyber bullies said she deserved; the body-shaming on the set of Our Perfect Wedding; and her tumultuous relationship with her husband.

The book is also a look behind the scenes of the entertainment industry and its scandals.

It is published through Penguin Random House and available at Exclusive Books, Bargain Books, Loot, Takealot and Reader’s Warehouse.

■ Join Tumi Morake in conversation, share your #AndThenMamaSaid moment: Facebook: @TumiMorakeSA

Twitter: @tumi_morake