They are officially off the market. Nelisiwe Mxakaza and partner Sandile Makhubela recently exchanged vows in front of family and close friends at a lavish wedding ceremony at Blue Ridge Crystal, on the 25th of March. The couple hosted umembeso (exhange of gifts ) on Friday then drove to Newcastle for uMabo (traditional wedding) in the morning, followed by the white wedding. "This is the best day of my life,' Nelisiwe tells ZiMoja.

MAKING MOM PROUD

On 19 February 2022, Nelisiwe and her twin Anele Mxakaza lost their mother after a short illness. This happened a few months after Nelisiwe gave birth to her first born child. "Wherever my mother is, I know she is really proud and happy about how everything went,' Neliswa says before her mother passed on, she was looking forward to seeing her wedding. "But God had other plans,' she says. "It's been really hard for us as a family, we miss her every day, we always guess things she would have said and done about things that happen daily, especially about my baby,' she adds.

A PROUD MOM

Neliswa says having a baby has helped in remembering the pain of losing her mom. "My baby makes me laugh and I think about what my mom would have said about the funny and adorable stuff he does. He literally heals me and the whole family,' she says. "Although there are some days when he is sick and I wish my mom was around to give me advice on what to do. Also just to see my parenting. I wanted her to see me being a mother too.'

SUPPORTIVE INLAWS

Her husband's family has been supportive through everything. "My husband's family has always just been a bunch of loving people, from day one of me being introduced to them as a girl,' he says. "They don't treat me like an outsider at all, I feel like one of the daughters in the family. Nothing has changed.'Neliswa says her twin sister could not be happier for her. "My twin sister is very excited. I know most people think she's going to be very sad and whatnot, but they don't know that she's always with us and nothing will change now that we're married.'