JOHANNESBURG – Generations: The Legacy actress Manaka Ranaka shared how she intentionally distanced her fame from her daughter Katlego, 24, who died on January 23. Speaking at the memorial service held at San Salvador Catholic Church in Leondale on Thursday, Ranaka revealed her conscious decision to let her daughter establish her own identity.

“I didn’t want my fame to overshadow who she can be,” Ranaka told mourners, explaining how she allowed Katlego to pursue her own path at Ekurhuleni Agricultural College without leveraging her mother’s celebrity status.

The actress expressed satisfaction that her daughter became known for her own merits. “People speak of Katlego as Kat, KGC and Kitty – her name. Not as Lerato’s child or Lucy’s child,” she said, referencing her own roles in Stokvel and Generations: The Legacy.

Katlego was pursuing studies in animal production at the time of her death. Her mother revealed this career choice stemmed from Katlego’s deep love for animals.

“If she’d passed really well in matric, she would’ve studied to be a veterinarian,” Ranaka shared. “We thought maybe to get through there, she should study agriculture and care for animals.”

The grieving mother also spoke of her daughter inheriting her trait of putting others first. “We put everybody ahead of us. We don’t know why or how, but we did things last for ourselves,” she said.

The memorial service drew attendees who shared their own memories of Katlego, which Ranaka said she cherished hearing. “Thank you for seeing my child as Katlego,” she told the gathering.