ACTRESS NINI WACERA ON RAISING HER 21 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER MANUELA

Country Queen star Nini Wacera has talked about raising her 21 year old daughter Manuela.

Speaking to Parents Magazine she said she gave birth to her when she was 23 years. “I knew very early that I wanted to be the kind of woman my daughter would talk to. I did not want her to be afraid of me. I wanted her to have fun with me and have good memories in her life of me. It’s just a relief she didn’t end up like me.

She is not confused, she is not lost, she doesn’t feel unseen and she is not traumatised by things that have happened that she has had no guidance. I feel like my success as a parent comes when I see her happy, and she’s made good decisions for herself. It’s a miracle seeing this person I carried in my belly now grown up, deciding, doing and functioning. This is what success is for me as a parent.”

She also acknowledged raising her daughter was difficult at first, “When she was young, it was easier because the things I was outspoken about were not on her radar. However, it got to a point where friends in school were asking if her mother is a lesbian, and I realised it was better that she got the information from me and not from other people.”

Wacera further disclosed the reason why she decided to keep her daughter from the limelight, “I am the one who is a celebrity; it’s not healthy, especially if it’s not hers. If she’s just famous because her mother is famous, then what’s her identity? Who is she as a human being? So I wanted it to be her choice.”