Riky's mother Louisa Zondo was also present in the interview, speaking of how her book Dearest MaRiky — A Mother’s Journey through Grief, Trauma and Healing was therapeutic and helped her grieve and heal.
In the book, Louisa pens a series of letters to her late son.
Previously speaking to TshisaLIVE, Louisa reflected on the pain she felt losing her son.
“The death of my son changed a lot of what I knew to be life. It unravelled me and left me feeling very lost, disconnected, and in unbearable pain. The love generously given by family, friends, Rikhado’s fans, many people who had experienced loss and my spiritual community helped me tremendously.
“At some point, it felt like I could not proceed. I desperately needed help. This is when I started intensive [work] which has been painful and healing at the same time.
“Even though for a long time I felt extreme longing and pain when engaging with memories of my son — images of him, a sense of his presence in various spaces, his music and material on the internet — engaging with the memory of my son was the very thing I was drawn to,” she said.
Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.
'He probably didn't think he was doing enough' — Bianca on what affected Riky's mental health
Bianca Naidoo opened up about some of the mental health struggles her late partner Riky Rick faced privately.
Rikhado “Riky Rick” Makhado took his own life on February 23 2022 at the age of 34.
In a recent interview on Metro FM, Bianca said she felt it was external factors that led to his suicide because she and the family provided constant support to him even through his battle with drug addiction.
“He wanted to do more than he was actually doing, he wanted to make a difference. When I look at it now, I feel like he probably didn't feel like he was doing enough and that was definitely something that hurt ... just with a lot of the things that have been happening in the country and in the industry. Those are the things that didn't sit well with him. It's just a whole lot of worldly things that he struggled with,
“Riky did struggle with addiction and had a very good run and then, unfortunately, struggled again towards the end. That was hard for him to feel like he's kind of failed, but I have to say we held him close through all those moments. We gave him so much love, even though he felt that he wasn't worthy of it probably.”
Riky's mother Louisa Zondo was also present in the interview, speaking of how her book Dearest MaRiky — A Mother’s Journey through Grief, Trauma and Healing was therapeutic and helped her grieve and heal.
In the book, Louisa pens a series of letters to her late son.
Previously speaking to TshisaLIVE, Louisa reflected on the pain she felt losing her son.
“The death of my son changed a lot of what I knew to be life. It unravelled me and left me feeling very lost, disconnected, and in unbearable pain. The love generously given by family, friends, Rikhado’s fans, many people who had experienced loss and my spiritual community helped me tremendously.
“At some point, it felt like I could not proceed. I desperately needed help. This is when I started intensive [work] which has been painful and healing at the same time.
“Even though for a long time I felt extreme longing and pain when engaging with memories of my son — images of him, a sense of his presence in various spaces, his music and material on the internet — engaging with the memory of my son was the very thing I was drawn to,” she said.
Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.
READ MORE: