Kate has received a Christmas card from her children, Nolly and Sipho. While Sipho signed it lovingly, Nolly just wrote her name which has pushed Kate further down in the dumps (she was already feeling low about the costumes she has to produce for Mother Goose).
What do we know about Nolly and Sipho?
Noluthando Grace Madikane turns 16 years old on 19 January 2017. She was born in the UK, while Kate was on a visit to Ambridge – her heavily pregnant state on her return in December 2000, took everyone by surprise, not least Jennifer.
Sipho Madikane will be 10 years old on 26 July 2017. He was born in South Africa. His arrival was a ray of light for Jennifer who was struggling through dark times with Brian grieving for his mistress Siobhan and then handling the assimilation of Ruairi into the family.
How did Kate end up in South Africa?
Fed up with life in Ambridge, in 1999 Kate took herself and her 18-month-old daughter Phoebe off to Morocco. The trip was cut short when Phoebe became seriously ill. With Phoebe returned to Ambridge and well again, Kate went back to Morocco and then from there she decided to head south. While in Cape Town in South Africa, Kate met Lucas Madikane.
Lucas made an appearance in Ambridge when Nolly arrived in January 2001 during Kate’s visit. They returned to South Africa but it wasn’t initially a smooth sailing. Lucas discovered Kate had booked an open ticket for Phoebe rather than the agreed two-week return. Kate was annoyed at Lucas for not supporting her position over Phoebe. Lucas accused her of trying to kidnap her own child.
Once back in South Africa, Lucas and Kate married and after a year or so Jennifer remarked that Kate had matured since becoming Mrs Madikane. Life passed seemingly pleasantly and their family grew with the arrival of Sipho.
How come Kate is now back in Ambridge?
Kate’s first stint away from her family in South Africa came when Sipho was 3 years old. She decided to do a course at Felpersham University and return to Lucas and the children in the holidays.
It was in 2012 that the wheels of the Madikane marriage really started to fall off. Kate signed up to a college in Johannesburg and it was here that she met Johan with whom she had a passionate affair. At the same time, Lucas had been offered a job in Durban but Kate was loathed to move there.
Eventually, Kate relented over Durban. Lucas had found about her affair with Johan so she broke it off and gave up her college work. But by 2015 she’d had another affair and this time Lucas threw her out. Kate hit the champagne at the Lower Loxley New Year's Eve Ball that year and revealed to Adam that her marriage was over. She reasoned that Nolly and Sipho were settled with Lucas and his parents so she was best placed in Ambridge where she could have another go at being a mother to Phoebe.
