Manaka Ranaka's heartfelt tribute to her late daughter Katlego on her 25th birthday

South African actress Manaka Ranaka penned a heart-warming tribute in honour of her late daughter, Katlego, on her 25th birthday.

Taking to Instagram, Ranaka shared a video, which consists of short clips and pictures that Katlego had taken with her friends and family.

She captioned her post: “Happy Birthday, my beautiful Angel. Today you would’ve turned 25. Our first 1st of November without you.

“I write this with a huge lump in my throat and tears soaking my pillow, knowing we will never see you again in the physical. That fact alone aches my heart. My chest tightens, and my womb hurts just thinking about it.

“I haven’t slept since yesterday, anticipating this day. The day I gave birth to you. Today, 25 years ago, is a day I will never forget. And you, my dear 1st born child, I will never forget you,” she shared.

The “Generations: The Legacy” star further added that they are unveiling her tombstone as a part of celebrating her birthday.

“Today is bittersweet as we unveil your stone and celebrate your birthday. A life worth celebrating,” she shared.

Katlego sadly passed away early this year on January 23, and shortly after her passing, her aunt, Nompumelelo Ranaka, revealed that she died from natural causes.

Manaka has also been open and candid about her grieving journey, and during an interview on the "Engineer Your Life with Lungelo KM", she shared how she has been navigating her grief.

The host asked her if her parenting style had helped her in terms of navigating the grief of losing her daughter.

She replied, "Being a realist has helped me with my grief. You can’t bring the dead back, you can’t. You just have to learn to live without…” 

She emotionally shared that she is still not ready to talk about losing her daughter and added that we can’t rejoice in birth and not try to find a way to rejoice in death since the two events are a part of life.