Wife of the late HHP will tell her story as a young widow
Lerato Sengadi joins the cast of Five Widows Unveiled, a 10-part Showmax Original that follows the lives of women who have lost their public-figure husbands.
Lerato is the wife of the late Motswako rapper HHP, who died in 2018 after hanging himself with a rope at his home in the Johannesburg suburb of Randpark Ridge.
She explained why she joined the show.
“No one wants to talk about it, but it’s a day-to-day reality for millions of people,” she says.
“Throughout my journey as a young widow, I realised that black widows, specifically, have it harder. It’s a generational curse and pattern. Women can’t speak openly about these experiences, they can’t speak about the pain and the journey to rediscovering themselves after loss.”
“The fact that you have to wear all black when your husband dies is just a ‘scarlet letter’ to let people know that you’re now a widow, so everyone must feel pity for you and avoid you like a plague,” Lerato says.
“When you show up for each other you are ridiculed and it’s called ‘trauma bonding’, instead of seeing it as a support system. In that moment of loss, you want someone who understands what you’re going through and who will help validate your emotions and feelings.”
Lerato was in a two-year legal dispute with HHP’s family over her status as the rapper’s customary wife.
The Supreme Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal by HHP’s father, Robert Tsambo, to have the marriage revoked.
