It is indiscernible at first. Only when Siviwe Tyobeka narrates the journey of her childhood do you start to hear it. Faint and peculiar. A pleasant intonation. The sound of the world.
Siviwe was born in Johannesburg, but moved to the United States of America when she was only eight months old as her father, Dr Bismarck Tyobeka (chairperson of the North-West University (NWU) Council), was completing his umpteenth degree in Pennsylvania. Half a decade or so later and the family uprooted to move to Vienna, Austria, where they lived until 2013, when they returned to their home soil in Pretoria. Upon her return, Siviwe attended the Deutsche Internationale Schule. She cites English as her first language and German as her second, while isiXhosa is her mother tongue. It is a subtle, lovely accent indeed.
She shyly laughs at the mention of it: “People sometimes ask me about it.”
It is not a trend that will end in the foreseeable future as The 19-year-old is enrolled for a degree in Biochemistry and Physiology at the Potchefstroom Campus of the NWU. She is also a proud member of Kasteel ladies’ residence and displayed her singing talents at the first-years’ concert.
“I have always been interested in the human body. It is such a complex and wonderful system,” she explains her choice of academic pursuit.
“I see myself becoming a doctor or pathologist or radiologist. Depending on what happens in my future, I may even go into the forensic sciences or become a biomedical scientist.”
She has three older half-sisters and two younger siblings, a sister who was born in the USA and a brother who was born in Austria. Her two oldest half-sisters both attend the NWU’s campus in Mahikeng.
Siviwe is following in their footsteps, although in her own tentative way.
“I am very introverted by nature, so I am slowly getting used to my new way of life. I like to spend most of my time in my room watching comedy movies like those starring Kevin Hart and Dwayne Johnson. The campus is beautiful and very big. I am going to need to familiarise myself with it.”
When balance or advice is needed, she knows she can always count on her father for perspective.
“My dad is a role model. He has always been very career-orientated and he has so many degrees, so I am very lucky to be able to go to him for advice. He has experienced a lot and has learned so much from a wide variety of different people. He is someone you want to base your life on, but you also want to be your own person,” she says fondly.
Then there is the other part of the equation: Ngeniswa Rosemary Tyobeka.
“My mom is great. She is very supportive, sympathetic, open and not judgemental, but she can be strict. I think it is part of being a proud isiXhosa woman from the Eastern Cape.”
Siviwe has a bit of her mom in her, and also a bit of her dad. A bit of here and a bit of there.
“I have spent more than half my life overseas, so although my passport and birth certificate say I am South African, that is not completely the way I feel. I feel like a citizen of the world.”
And, just like that unique accent, it makes for a perfect combination.
Bertie Jacobs
