Speakers tell of teen’s life well lived
IT WAS a relay of brave, heart-warming and inspiring tales about the late Ontlametse Phalatse, as speakers took turns sharing their memories about the elfin child.
The packed Mmanotshe Moduane High School hall in Hebron resembled Phalatse’s bravado and never-say-die attitude as people sang, ululated and danced to a life well lived.
Phatlatse was a well-known motivational speaker who suffered from progeria. Progeria is a genetic disorder that causes rapid ageing.
Comedian Thapelo “Tips” Seemisi served as programme director and kept things light‚ joking throughout the service. “Don’t come here with your long and sad faces and ruin your make-up. This is not the place or the time. We are here to celebrate the life of a young girl who enjoyed life,” said Seemisi.
Doctors did not think Phalatse would live to see her 14th birthday, but on March 25 she turned 18 after finishing matric.
Her best friend Tebogo Gololo described her as a go-getter who was always upbeat. “I sometimes wondered where she sourced all her energy,” she said.
Gololo spoke of how she always confided in Phalatse about her problems, to which Phalatse always jokingly replied: “You think you’ve got problems?”
On the day of her death, she and her mother had gone to town to pick up a tailor-made outfit she intended to wear at President Jacob Zuma’s 75th birthday celebration on Wednesday night. She had been invited as a special guest.
Among those who the memorial service was South Africa’s only surviving progeria sufferer‚ Beandri Booysen‚ who came with her mother‚ Bea Booysen. SAA chairwoman Dudu Myeni and Hendrietta BogopaneZulu‚ the deputy social development minister‚ were among those in attendance.
Dominican Convent School Headmaster Graham Howarth described Phalatse as a witty pupil who was never short of smart answers.
The Ontlametse Phalatse Trust’s Tebogo Mothoa said she would be remembered for her courageous spirit and inspirational personality.
Phalatse’s wish was to see her family living in a decent house and having a car. And those wishes will be granted as the family was promised a house.
The funeral will take place in Hebron tomorrow.