TV couple grieve for baby
Celebrity couple still trying to cope
Skeem Saam actress Mona Monyane is learning to cope with the intense and overwhelming grief of losing a child.
Renowned for her role as Dr Nchabeleng in SABC2 soapie Muvhango, Monyane has opened up to Sowetan about the unbearable loss she suffered together with actor husband Khulu Skenjana.
Monyane made the announcement for the first time last month, that they lost their baby girl just seven days after she was born in November.
“I’m not through it; I will never be through it. I lost my child. I’ll go through this for the rest of my life,” she poured her heart out.
“Even when I’m going to be 70 years old, I’m still going to calculate as to how old she would have been. What is making me carry on is that there is a greater power beyond me that would not make me go through this for no reason.
“I realise that I’m being shaped for something greater. I’m not the first and I’m not going to be the last,” she said.
“My husband lost the baby as much as I did. I have to be strong for him as much as he’s strong for me.” The couple are also the proud parents of a two-year-old girl. “It’s a constant struggle. But, my God, my first child is the sun; she brings us so much hope. She is so beautiful,” she said with a beaming smile. Monyane offered advice to anyone dealing with such a heartbreaking loss. “Don’t ever allow anyone to tell you how you should feel. If you want to break down today, have a breakdown. If you don’t want to get out of bed, don’t get up,” Monyane said. “I can say that always fight for light. It’s going to be the hardest thing, but make their life count.” The couple got married in 2016. Skenjana is renowned for his recent roles in TV shows Lockdown and The Imposter. “My man is very talented and I don’t say that as his wife, but as an artist. I’m very proud of him.
“That was one of the things I wanted to achieve; I wanted to find my soul mate and build a family. Our ancestors brought us together, they found me a husband and vice versa.”