Her guests start arriving; all in awe at the splendour of it all. There was an orchestra playing; there were ice sculptors; the food and drink was Michelin styled. And the penthouse was immaculately decorated with real gold pieces on the long table that seated 30.

People are mingling; eating the canapes and all feeling like royalty. They all felt so special to be part of the 30 as Nomalizo was quite a loner. The last time she saw her parents or any of the 30 in the room was when she left her hometown and moved to UCT.

She did send her parents R50 000 a month to ease the guilt of not seeing them.

Everyone is ushered to their seats and against the norm of parties, Nomalizo stands up to give a toast to herself!

“Hello everyone; dear parents and siblings. Cousins and friends; thank you so much for coming to my 30th. I last saw all of you 14 years ago when i left that home town to go to UCT. I’ve done very well for myself as you all know; I have houses in four countries and more cars than i can drive “.