North Coast couple share their love story

Believing in each other and knowing what they want to achieve have kept Bishop Jabulani (42) and Jabulisile Ndlovu (39) going strong in their 21 years of marriage.

Bishop Ndlovu of the All Come Ministries in Etete, Velani Township met his sweetheart when he was in matric and at that time he had already started ministering at different schools around the North Coast.

He was also a member of a gospel group Perfect Voice based in Driefontein, upper Tongaat, where Jabulisile was staying.

“To be honest, I was very shy to approach her and I spoke to her neighbour. I told her that I was madly in love with Jabu and I wanted a serious relationship. At that time I was a very tiny boy but very charming. She agreed to make a plan for me. So she arranged our first meeting,” said Jabulani.

Even after 21 years of marriage the couple are still head-over-heels in love and throughout the interview they kept looking at each other taking endless selfies.

“I was very young when he approached me, I think I was 15 years old,” said Jabu.

“But I was attracted by one thing: he knew what he wanted. He did not bother to sweet talk me much. He explained his intentions and told me that he wanted to marry me. I think that’s what made him stand out from all the guys who were approaching me at that time.

“I remember that he used to buy me lots of gifts and I did not know what to say at home when asked where I got them. So I took my friend to a stream where we sat and ate all the chocolates! He once bought a very expensive pair of earrings, yet I did not have piercings. I asked a friend of mine to keep them safe, but I never got them back,” said Jabu.

They began dating in 1996 and got engaged in June 1998, while they were both still at school.

Jabulani said his parents were not impressed with him, not that they did not like Jabu but thought it was too early for marriage.

However, since Jabulani was a charming preaching boy, teachers and pupils from the schools he ministered in came to their aid.

“They donated money for us so that I could afford the lobola and all the things that we needed for the wedding,” he said.

“Our engagement was made in church and we were given six months to get married by the church elders! That is when everybody who knew us came to the party. Our rings were bought by one of the teachers from a school that I ministered in. We had such a big wedding that if it had been held today, it would be featured on Our Perfect Wedding (a television show on Mzansi Magic DStv).
Even though both of them were not working, they always managed to get what they needed.

“After the wedding we did not have a place to stay, so one of the Jabu’s relatives who stayed in KwaMashu took us in until I got a job as a security guard and we managed to rent a small room in Newlands and Jabu had to look after our firstborn,” said Jabulani.

Things turned out well when he got a job as an Isizulu teacher at an Indian school in Upper Tongaat and since then, the couple have been working hard to build a solid foundation for their four children.

Despite their early marriage, they do not advise people to rush into marriage because, they said, times have changed.

“If you want to study, go for it and make sure that you are financially and mentally ready to be in a long term relationship or be married. Marriage is no child’s play,” warned the couple.

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