“Changed My Name”: Woman in Interracial Relationship Shares the Difficulties Her Husband Faces

• A white woman married to a black South African man shared what her husband went through when the couple were searching for a home to rent
• She ran a simple test using her maiden name versus his name on the same rental applications, and what she discovered had many relating
• South Africans flooded the comments with the different names they use to avoid facing the same treatment

A woman in an interracial relationship shared a story that had South Africa talking honestly about race. Nicola shared her story on 17 March 2026 from her living room. She said her video was a response to a TikTok she had seen that said if you still do not believe racism exists, you simply need to speak to a white woman who has been with a black man for an extended period of time.

Nicola has been married to her husband, Lebogang Maboa, for ten years, and they have two children together. She explained that early in their marriage, when they were looking for houses to rent, Lebogang would apply to view properties. This was because he was the main earner, and it made sense for him to do so. Despite that, they could never get responses. Nobody would get back to him, no matter how many properties they found and applied for.

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Nicola then decided to test something. She applied to the exact same properties using her maiden name, Nicola Pilkington, a name she said might have sounded very British and very white. The responses came back. More landlords were willing to let them view properties when the name on the application sounded white.

Watch the TikTok clip below:

SA relates to interracial couple's race difficulties

The comments section filled up quickly to TikToker @nicolamaboa's clip, which led to people sharing their own experiences:

@Nonhlanhla Blac wrote:

"Mina sana, I'm Veronica Roberts on Uber."

@Dré said:

"We experienced this when applying for school for our daughter."

@KayiseSS added:

"I'm Veronica Van Tonder."

@Thembeka Mancinza shared:

"My daughter's name is Kayla, and I use it on Mr D. My food always comes perfect."

@Gugu.Phiri wrote:

"I'm Natasha Smith 😌 on the Uber app 😂"

@Mphemba92 said:

"I have accepted it. My wife's name is Heather. I use her name in all applications because with my name, I don't get called at all."

@💋 added:

"Even with Uber, my name is Primrose De Koker and I get deals all the time 🥰"

@Mbee🧚‍♀️ wrote:

"I'm Anna Smith on Bolt and Uber, and I always have discounts 😂"

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@masegoL said:

"I'm using my mom's surname, Lenkoe. I think it's high time I use my dad's Debaker and instead of Masego I'll use Rachel, which is my other name 🫡"

@okuhle❤️ shared:

"My name is Alison on Bolt and Uber, and trust me, the discounts hit different. When I was using my original name, I only got discounts near the end."

@Thapelo🇿🇦🇿🇦 wrote:

"Mrs Maboa, we appreciate you, makoti wa rona 🫡"

More on interracial relationships in SA

• Briefly News recently reported on an interracial couple in Cape Town who went viral after sharing a funny video about their language barrier.
• A young Xhosa woman shared a clip of her Asian husband learning her language, and his effort and pronunciation had South Africans completely won over.
• An Afrikaans man opened up about how he ended up falling in love with an Indian woman despite the belief system he was raised with.

Source: Briefly News