Msizi James celebrates having two moms

947 radio personality Msizi James has the rare privilege of having two wonderful women he calls mom and while that does mean going double on the presents for Mother's Day, the radio personality wouldn't have it any other way.

While it's not uncommon for Africans to be raised by an “army” of mothers, Msizi's story is a bit different, in that his second mom came in the form of a big-hearted American woman.

Speaking to TshisaLIVE, the radio personality expressed his gratitude as he explained how his having two moms came about.

“I was raised by two strong women, my biological mom Sylvia and my American mom Pat. Pat came into my life when I was five and though she never adopted me, she pretty much raised me, as I lived with her till I was 18.

“This was a great help to my biological mom, Sylvia, who is a single mom of four, with me being the last born. They taught me everything I know today, and their joint wisdom has been a guiding light in my life,” Msizi said.

The recently engaged Msizi said looking at his life, he wouldn't change a thing and shared that his love for music comes from Pat, who always played such a wide variety of music in the house growing up, from Bob Dylan to Johnny Clegg.

Before adding that he gets his sense of humour and love for people from Sylvia — who he explained, has spent her whole life in public service, running her own NGO that takes care of families in the community Molweni, KZN, where she grew up.

Here's our Q&A with Msizi.

• Best thing your moms taught you?

The best thing they have taught me? Without being cheesy, they have taught me how to love people. Both of them just ooze love and compassion.

One of the best pieces of advice I have ever got from my mom (Sylvia) is, “If you do anything, don't do it for free”. Ha-ha, the irony of that being said by someone who runs an NPO.

• All guys love their mom's cooking — what’s the one dish your mom makes that you love?

Mom's cooking ... It's so funny, but one of my favourite things to do is cook Sunday lunch for my fiancée and friends. This love for cooking comes from watching my mom cook seven colours every time the family came together.

I rate myself as a pretty good cook. I even own a restaurant, but for the life of me I can't do it like she can. Whenever my mom visits me in Jozi or I go home, the only thing I ever ask her to do is cook for me. My favourite meals made by her are curried Pilchards and porridge, not together of course, ha-ha.

• How do you plan on celebrating her this Sunday?

Mother’s Day is always such a hard one, as neither of them live in Joburg, so via my siblings I always send Sylvia some gifts and call in during lunch.

Pat has since moved back to America, so Mother’s Day with her this year will be a very long Zoom call at an ungodly hour.