Bianca Naidoo recently visited Mpoomy Ledwaba's YouTube podcast to chat about everything from her childhood and growing up in a mixed family, to how she’s dealing with her late rapper husband, Rikhado “Riky Rick” Makhado's death.
Naidoo, whose mother is African and father is Indian, said that she battled to fit in.
“Growing up mixed, I did struggle a little bit... You get a form that you have to fill in, are you black, are you Indian, are you coloured, and I would always get confused, what do I tick. People say you mixed, so you coloured, and I didn’t necessarily think of myself in that way... I also had some racial encounters growing up.
“Overall, just having very strong parents and I didn’t school in the area, my mom put my brother and I in private schools at an early age, so that helped because then I was with different people and you start becoming comfortable with that.”
She added that as she grew up, her dating life also became a struggle because she didn’t know what race she was meant to date.
“Even relationship-wise I struggled because, who do you date, and I think it is only when I got older, I started being comfortable... I am who I am, like I don’t have to say that I am black or Indian or whatever, it’s only when people ask, which I do get a lot.”
She praised her mother for raising her and her brother in the “most amazing” way, saying that she is the person she is today is because of her mom.
“She did the most amazing job and it couldn’t have been easy for her at all. Being black and raising her kids in an Indian community, and she was probably the only black woman married to an Indian person, and that was years ago, so it was very different.
“I am sure she put up with a lot, but she just did it with such grace and she did a very good job in not making us feel like we are different.”
Naidoo said her mother worked two jobs to provide for her brother, herself and father, who for a long time, did not have a job.
“Especially being a single parent now - I’m like how did she do it? There was no complaints, no ugliness... she did it with such grace.”
Speaking about her current lifestyle, she said: “For a long time, right up until last year, a lot of my life was survival mode. I started therapy for the first time last year...
“A lot had happened and I didn’t deal with certain things, because I was so good at taking it, figuring it out myself, and then moving on, but Riky’s passing definitely made me realise that I have been in survival mode for the longest time and not paying attention to what is necessarily important.
“I think I’ve navigated it every well, but last year brought me to a point where I was like ‘I can’t do this anymore’. I need to start living and being honest with myself and feelings.”
Watch the full podcast here.