Veteran South African actress Sophie Ndaba, best known for her iconic role as Queen Moroka in the popular television series Generations recently opened up about her challenging childhood experiences, including time spent in Harare, Zimbabwe.
In an interview with Relebogile Mabotja, Ndaba revealed that her early years were marked by significant hardships. Her father was seriously ill, living with only one kidney, while her mother was the family’s sole breadwinner. The family faced severe financial difficulties during this period.
When Ndaba was eight years old, her mother sent her to live in Harare with her older sister, who was already married with children. However, her time there was fraught with difficulties. Ndaba disclosed that her sister’s husband behaved inappropriately toward her, recalling how lessons from her grandmother helped her navigate and avoid further harm.
“That man was ‘touchy feely’. I remember my grandmother saying, ‘Don’t allow men to touch or kiss you. They must greet you and move. Every time he said goodnight, he kissed me and put his tongue in my mouth,” Ndaba said.
After leaving her sister’s home, Ndaba lived in a children’s home before being taken in by a wealthy couple. Despite the family’s apparent affluence, Ndaba described her time with them as deeply distressing.
“About a month after I was there, that lady said kids don’t sleep in bedrooms, they sleep outside. Me and the other two foster kids slept outside on a concrete floor, bathed in cold water, [and] never had lunch,” she revealed.
She shared that the foster mother treated her and two other foster children harshly, making them sleep outside on a concrete floor, bathe in cold water, and often skip meals. Ndaba said she was confused by how the family treated them considering that they were wealthy. She added that the foster mother seemed to have taken them in for selfish reasons.
“She was keeping up with appearances. She wanted people to know that she had a family. It was also to keep the husband because she could not have kids of her own,” she said.
During a visit the following Christmas, Ndaba’s father noticed that she had lost weight. Although she initially tried to hide the truth by saying that it was because she was playing sports, her father quickly saw through the lies and took her home, rescuing her from the dire conditions she had endured.
