A mother’s love for her child never fades. This is evident in Louisa Zondo, the mother of the late rapper Riky Rick, who is writing a memoir as a way of telling her story to her son.
Louisa lost Riky – born Rikhado Makhado – to suicide on 23 February 2022 after the rapper’s lengthy battle with depression.
“Rikhado spoke publicly about his experience with mental health challenges and did not hide the fact that a lot of things affected his mental well-being,’ said Louisa to BONA. ‘I was aware of this. My son’s death came as an absolute shock, though. I never expected it.”
Now, Louisa is writing a book titled MaRiky: A Mother’s Journey through Grief, Trauma and Healing.
“MaRiky is the name that adults in our family affectionately called Rikhado from childhood. The book is a telling of my story to him,” says Louisa of the memoir.
She also explained in an Instagram post that writing the book was a significant mark in her journey of healing and that the book explores the damage of many years of unresolved trauma.
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She explained to BONA, “The damage is from me closing up and learning to keep up appearances from an early age. It is about the disconnectedness and brokenness that comes from the false belief that my value is tied in with conforming to what those whose approval I yearned for, directed and pleasing them, in order to earn their love.”
When describing her son’s life, Louisa notes that both his public and private life was multifaceted, regarding it as interesting, sensitive, vulnerable, challenging, artful, energetic and beautiful.
She also shared what she loved most about him, saying, “I love the fact that he was himself. I loved how he treasured his family relationships as our son, brother, husband and father.”
While her son shared parts of his life with the world, Louisa feels it is time to share parts of hers. When asked why she chose to write her memoir now and not later in life, Louisa told BONA, “Grieving Rikhado’s death led me to an examination of my whole life. A lot had been closed up in me and I was unable to share myself openly with my children and family.”
Louisa mentions that there were many times the Boss Zonke hitmaker asked her to tell him the story of her life. However, she was unable to do so.” The book is finally the telling of this story,” she says.
“Many people may have stories they are unable to tell for various reasons, including the risk of the telling of the stories unravelling the lives they may have become accustomed to and able to manage,” states Louisa. “I hope that others may be inspired by the book to also tell their stories in ways that best support them – whether it be telling the stories [to] family or in specific communities and circles. Telling my story brought me some notable healing. I hope that we all find ways of telling our stories and allowing that storytelling to heal what needs to be healed,” she said.
MaRiky: A Mother’s Journey through Grief, Trauma and Healing is set to launch on 26 May 2023 and is available for pre-order at https://jacana.co.za/product/dearest-mariky/.
