Wealthy. That’s what Sisipho was. She was not from the richest of suburbs nor were her parents; and they were not even business owners. Sisipho grew up as a happy child, had a childhood like any other kid. Her parents made sure of one thing – that she got the best education. All of her schooling life, she went to the best private schools, from pre-school to tertiary.

At 28 years, she had it all. She had extended and renovated her parent’s house in the village of Motel. It had always been her desire to give her parents an unforgettable gift and this had to be it.

Her father, Khozi, was against the idea of his daughter doing anything for them. He always said, “Baby, first do things for yourself. I don’t want you doing things for us and putting your life on hold.”

But Sisipho didn’t mind; she knew that the gift of education was priceless. And no matter how much money she spent doing things for her parents, it still wouldn’t be enough to thank them.

Her mother though, enjoyed it. She would always say, “Ntombi yam, when you start working I want all the finer things in life. I want a luxurious life.”

Supposedly that is why Sisipho got greater joy when she did things for them. She wouldn’t wait for them to ask, she would just do. Every parent wished she was their daughter and every guy wished to be her husband. But her heart was somewhere else, undecided.

Sisipho was an advocate and a businesswoman. She had studied law for seven years and had done a one year course in business. She was familiar with the business world. When she was just 10 years old, she would help Makoti, an Indian lady that her aunt worked for at her hardware store. Before that – at nine years – she helped sis’Andiswa with her pay phones. After Matric she did a one-year course in Human Resources Management at Tshwane University of Technology. So she was very equipped and knew exactly what she was doing.

At 23 years she started her first business, Makhosikazi catering. Six months afterwards she opened her first restaurant called Dark and Blue in Constantia, Cape Town. She extended it to East London, Durban, until there were branches across South Africa, and then she took it to Berlin. Then at 25, she bought her first truck for importing and exporting oil. The only person who knew about the truck was her father. He had always supported his daughter’s dream of wealth. The rest of the family and friends only found out much later.

She opened all these businesses while also focusing on the law. It was easy for her as she loved reading and always talked about money. People didn’t know she was rich. She didn’t talk about her businesses or how much money she earned from being an advocate. She was very modest, she only drove one car, a BMW 1 series, though she owned another.

She had two houses, a Tuscan-plan town house in Pretoria and a beach house in Port Elizabeth. Her childhood dream was to own six houses and seven cars. She was so obsessed with success that she became a workaholic. She rarely had time to make new friends or socialise so she stayed in touch with her childhood friends. Kimberly was her best friend and business partner. She was an educator by profession. Sikilelwa was her cousin and another business partner in anther business. She was also a sound engineer. And Samella, a nurse and Sisipho’s advisor.

Sisipho’s mother Nokhu would complain that she wants grandchildren and Sisipho would argue that she does have a grandchild, Mihlali, but her mother would remind her that Milhlali was her nephew that she adopted and that it wasn’t the same thing. When Sisipho reminded her mother about her other grandchildren, her mom would again remind her that those children were from her two uncles and half-sister – so it did not count. As a last resort Sisipho would just make the excuse of being busy.

Her mother could not argue with that because if she did, Sisipho would simply just stare at her and ask, “What and who pays for your trips to other countries? Your weekend get-away and your spa treatments?” So her mother knew better than to argue with the ‘I’m busy’ statement. After all, Sisipho was trying her best even though she was not married.

She didn’t know if she believed in marriage or not as she had been with her boyfriend for 12 years. He had mentioned marriage on many occasions. But being the gorgeous man that he is, he had attempted to cheat on her in the very first four months together and once again in their second year. Both times it was with people she knew. But having been taught how to love, respect and forgive, she forgave him and continued loving him. For her, he was the only one. She always had guys who asked her out; some who were even more gorgeous and yummy-looking, but she loved her Nkosi, her Sweet-cakes.

He was a gentleman by nature, a romantic at heart and a baby in his mind. She loved him despite their age difference. And what was age if not just a number? She also knew that he was the only one who truly understood her. He was also the one who kept her going when things were tough, the one who would motivate her to keep strong and encourage her to have more businesses and spoil her parents.

They were not a perfect couple. They have arguments, minor fights and misunderstandings but still stuck together. Sisipho did want a child but maybe in two years time, when she had all her houses and cars and more businesses. And a farm.

She and Sikelelwa had talked about buying or starting one from scratch. They often made jokes of eating bacon and eggs every day and changing to sausage once they got bored. Sisipho was barely available most days but promised everybody that once she built her mansion, she would take things slow and probably stop buying franchises and just invest in other business.

She even promised her mother to have a child once the house was done and she had moved in comfortably. But there was a little problem; she didn’t know whether Nkosi wanted any more children. He already had four from his first two marriages.

Life wasn’t as perfect as it seemed for Sisipho.

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Tell us what you think: Is it possible to be truly happy and successful at the same time? What do you think is more important, wealth or love?