It has been over three months since Sihle Sibisi lost her 10-year-old daughter, Khanyisile.
Her death was unexpected and sudden. She died three days after the scathing BBC TB Joshua documentary had aired.
In it, Sihle shared the alleged evildoings in the church, exposing the televangelist for his alleged fake miracles, how he slept with girls in the church and forced them to have abortions.
Read more | ‘I had three abortions in the church’- Confessions of a TB Joshua disciple
In a conversation with DRUM, Sihle says, “I never knew what a brain aneurysm was until my daughter passed away. My daughter was never sick and this was a sudden death.”
SOCIAL MEDIA RUMOURS
Social media users spewed vile rumours about Khanyisile’s death. Others went as far as saying Sihle has sacrificed her child or hinted that the spirit TB Joshua was punishing her (from his grave) for what she said about him.
Sihle, who is active on social media could not engage nor defend herself because she was grieving this devastating loss.
“I’m thankful for the law as cyberbullying is a prosecutable crime. A month after she passed on, I gained the strength to open a case of cyberbullying, contravening the POPI act, defamation of character. Those who thought they knew my life better than me and spoke nonsense on social media are going to face the wrath of the law.”
Sihle says the likes of Basetsana Kumal winning a defamation against Jackie Phamotse give her hope that those who kept on speaking things they know nothing about will be punished by the law.
“People will stop speaking things they know nothing about.”
HONOURING HER DAUGHTER
Sihle has started the Khanyisile Paediatric Foundation for Brain Aneurysm Awareness in honour of her daughter's memory. Eager to know what could have caused this sudden death, an autopsy found that she had a ruptured brain aneurysm. “They told me she had bleeding in the brain.” From then on, Sihle started researching and trying to understand this.
“I went onto the internet and found there is a Brain Aneurysm Foundation in Boston, US I found out that there are no symptoms. As with my daughter, It started as a headache. Less than 90 % survive or if they do survive they end up wheelchair bound or on nappies.”
Khanyisile was a young ambassador of the Kwanele Foundation. Sihle says she would talk about body shaming and bullying among her peers and is always willing to be an activist.
Read more | Kwanele Foundation's founder: I’m not dead!
GRIEVING
“Grief is messy. One minute you are okay, the next it is hell. You lose family and friends” Sihle says she sometimes just wants to be alone and not talk.
“I’m not okay. My grief is public and I do everything on the platform of Kwanele Foundation.” There are people who have said she is starting a foundation to make money. She asks, “How can you be foolish and cruel?”
The philanthropist asseerts that she has not received any funding; she runs this NGO from the support of donors.
Sihle has started presenting a show on Moja Love, Fake Marriage. It was initially shot in 2023 and started airing in April.
She has had to go back to work and says it is not easy but “I have to put food on the table.”
