Rachel Kolisi: A Look Into the Life of the Springbok Captain's Wife Who Puts Family 1st & Gives Back to Mzansi
Much loved power couple Siya and Rahel Kolisi have won over the hearts of many South Africans with their unique, relatable and inspiring love journey. Siya is one of South Africa's best rugby players and arguably the most influential after being made their first black captain.
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Behind every successful man, there stands a woman who has supported and guided him through thick and thin. The same can be said for loving mother and supportive wife, Rachel. Briefly News takes a look into the life of one of Mzansi's favourite darlings.
Source: Instagram
Rachel’s life before Siya
Before adopting the “Kolisi” surname, the lovely lady was born a “Smith”, in Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape in 1990 on the 21st of January, the SUN UK reports.
Details of Rachel’s family background are scarce. However, it is publicly known that she studied in South Africa and that she has three siblings.
She has one brother and two sisters. After she matriculated from high school, she and her family relocated from Grahamstown to Cape Town. After relocating to Cape Town, Rachel secured herself some part-time jobs to finance her education. Later, she pursued higher education in events management.
What does Mrs Kolisi do for a living?
Before having children, she was a marketing executive. Because of Siya’s busy schedule, Rachel left behind her career as an event manager and marketing executive to become a full-time mother to their four kids.
She is also quite the social media influencer, with an Instagram account boasting over 320K followers. She shares lifestyle, fitness, family, travel, women empowerment as well as sponsored brand content.
Rachel is also the co-founder of the Kolisi Foundation, which was birthed in 2020 through Siya and Rachel’s desire to change the story of inequality in South Africa, responding with compassion and courage to the challenges faced by our nation.
The foundation seeks to support people living in under-resourced communities in South Africa, by providing resources, facilitating capacity-building and horizontal learning exchanges, and mobilising and advocating for systemic change.
How she met Springbok captain husband Siya
According to Wedding ETC, Siya and Rachel met at a dinner party in Stellenbosch back in 2012. They soon became friends, but Siya always liked Rachel. He eventually plucked up the nerve to ask her out, an experience he has described as scary.
“I knew I liked her and had to tell her,” he wrote on their wedding website.
“It was scary. I asked her to lunch and that’s when I told her. She played hard to get in the beginning but eventually admitted it as well. The rest is history. We have a beautiful family and I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with her.
Siya and Rachel’s family life
The couple got married on August 13, 2016. They shared their day with their firstborn, a son Nicholas Siyamthanda, who they had in 2015.
Siya's young half-siblings Liyema and Liphelo were also there, all sharing the same mother who died in 2009, and have lived with the Kolisis since 2014 after spending time in orphanages and foster care.
A few years later, Siya and Rachel added a daughter to their clan, Keziah.
Rachel’s struggle with depression and her encounter with Christ
Rachel has also spoken up about dealing with depression and how her relationship with Jesus helped her overcome trials in her life.
“He (Jesus) doesn’t cause the bad things to happen to us, He allows them because that builds our character and through our testimonies, we can help so many more. I don’t think there is anything more beautiful than when people share something rally difficult that tey went through in an exchange to help others in something they might be going through themselves,” she shared in YouTube video with social media influencer and motivational speaker, Mpoomy Ledwaba.
She also went into detail about how she went on a faith journey in 2019 and she had no doubts that the Springboks would win the World Cup.
“God will trust you with responsibility but you have to make sure that you prepare for that. I cleared my plate that year and I was like, ‘Okay Lord, I’m 100% prepare for this and you can trust us with this’ because we understood the impact this win would have on South Africa. I just wouldn’t entertain conversations that were not building that vision.”
Rachel recently went back to school
At the beginning of the year, Rachel shared the news of becoming a student again.
While she didn’t go into detail about what she will be studying, Rachel shared in the lengthy caption how she has been wanting to study for a long time now but just had not had the opportunity to.
“Finally decided to take a dive and do it. Still trying to figure out how I’m going to manage everything,” she said.
She also advised and encouraged her followers to spend some time putting pen to paper and set some goals for 2022.
Rachel’s hobbies
Rachel’s hobbies are acting, travelling, dancing, and painting. Her top favourite foods are ice cream and pancakes. Black is her best colour, while Paris is her dream destination for a holiday.
Rachel Kolisi shares gorgeous pic of her and Siya in Adelaide
In a separate story, Briefly News reported that the Springboks played against Australia in Adelaide, despite losing Rachel Kolisi was all smiles. She joined her hubby in the Australian city for the game.
Rachel shared a gorgeous snap of herself and the Springbok captain and captioned the pic with:
"Main squeeze forever."
The power couple is constantly setting goals and melting people's hearts with their cute relationship. They have such a great dynamic and are constantly having fun with each other
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Source: Briefly News
