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Mapaseka Koetle opens up about her fatherless childhood

Picture Supplied
Picture Supplied

Growing up without a father figure is one of the hardest things a growing teenager can go through, especially for a girl.

A father-daughter relationship has been documented as one of the most heart-warming relationships for girls and those who grew up without a father-figure sometimes tend to lose themselves in life.

But Mapaseka Koetle, famously known as ‘Dintle from Scandal’ did not let her father’s absence ruin her life. She instead used that as motivation to do better in life and achieve greater things.

“I always tell people who are struggling to always try. I mean you can’t make that an excuse. I can’t keep using my father’s absence as an excuse for not achieving things.”

She says there were days when the family felt his absence but had to live on.

“It had its days, it was very tough, mostly financially. I think it made me realise why God said there should be a man and a woman and there should be husband and wife – to share responsibilities.”

The 26 year-old Bloemfontein born actress’ parents divorced when she was only seven years old. She recalls how she enjoyed having her father around before he left.

“I’ve got a small memory of how I used to follow him wherever he was going and how I loved him,” she says.

She considers her mother her role model because she managed to put bread on the table despite the financial difficulties.

“I think being single parent is not nice, it needs someone who is very strong and she (mother) did it.

“There was never a point where my little sister and I felt a strong gap that he left to the extent that we wished he could come back,” said Koetle.

Although her family came out victorious on the survival of the fittest front, she admits that her father’s presence was dearly missed and that there were a lot of things she would have liked to have experienced with him.

“I think things would have been nicer had he been there. I mean the first relationship a girl has with a man is with her father.”

He was supposed to take us out and not have us experience restaurants like Wimpy for the first time only when I got boyfriend.  A lot of girls go through that.”

Upon realising that life is difficult at home, Pasi packed her bags and headed for Johannesburg in search for greener pastures.

She did not let herself get blinded by the big Jozi city lights and managed to enroll and complete her studies at AFDA.

“I used to walk from AFDA to Brixton and I used to talk to myself a lot – or was it to God maybe – so whenever I would pass the SABC studios, I would always say that one day I will be working here.

“Even when I saw celebrities, I would silently say in my heart ‘one day I am going to work with you’”.

Today Koetle shares a stage with the likes of the legendary Maake ka-Ncube and her all-time favourite actress Nthati Moshoesh.

 

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