Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh Shares His Parents’ Age Difference, SA Reacts: “He Has Always Liked Them Old”

• Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh disclosed that his mother, Theresa Oakley-Smith, is older than his father, Advocate Dali Mpofu
• He disclosed this in an interview on The Penuel Show episode that premiered on 6 January 2025, but was reshared on X (Twitter) on Wednesday, 7 January 2026
• The revelation sparked mixed reactions on social media, with some criticising Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh's mom

Podcaster and academic Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh sparked a heated discussion after revealing the age gap between his mother, Theresa Oakley-Smith and father, Advocate Dali Mpofu, including details about how they met.

Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh is known for keeping his personal life away from the prying eyes of the public. He, however, lifts the veil on his private life during interviews on his highly successful podcast, the Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh Xperience (SMWX), as well as on his social media accounts when he celebrates milestones such as his birthday.

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A video of Mpofu-Walsh sharing his mother and father’s age difference and how they met had social media users buzzing with reactions.

Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh shares his parents’ age gap

On Wednesday, 7 January 2026, social media user @ThisIsColbert shared a snippet of popular podcast host Penuel Mlotshwa interviewing Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh. The snippet was from an episode of The Penuel Show that aired on 6 January 2025 on Penuel’s KONVO YouTube channel.

In the snippet, Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh disclosed that his mother, Theresa Oakley-Smith, is 14 years older than his father, Advocate Dali Mpofu. He shared that his mother was his father’s lecturer and warden at Wits University when they started a romantic relationship.

“She was then the warden of a residence called Barnato Hall at Wits, which is still there today, and that residence was a crucible for anti-apartheid struggle, especially student activism in the 80s. That's where she met my dad, by the way, who is a student at that residence. It was the biggest scandal you can imagine, right?” Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh said.

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Mpofu-Walsh added that his mother and father’s relationship caused a huge scandal at the time, and she was disowned.

“It was a huge scandal, and people disowned her, and the university was in uproar,” he added.

Watch the video below:

SA reacts as Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh discloses his parents’ age difference

Social media users flooded the comments with mixed reactions. While some slammed Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh’s mother, others defended her, stating that despite the huge age gap, the two were consenting adults at the time.

Here are some of the comments:

@TheJustCaused argued:

“People should be allowed to have their own preferences. Most of us who bash that family will never have even half a life as impactful as Dali or his son. If we used our focus to pull our lives up, we would improve.”

@mmlets joked:

“He has always liked them old😂”

@GodGuluvaGuruu shared:

“I see nothing wrong here.”

@BLK0609 remarked:

“Just like Macron and his wife🤣🤣”

Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh on strained relationship with AKA

During the same interview with Penuel Mlotshwa, Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh also discussed his strained relationship with his childhood friend AKA, as previously reported by Briefly News.

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AKA and Sizwe attended high school together and were best friends, and even formed a hip-hop group, Entity.

Proofreading by Kelly Lippke, copy editor at Briefly.co.za.

Source: Briefly News