Publications
Partners
The country has been beyond invested in the upcoming wedding of the couple who've come to be known as the #KFC proposal couple after their proposal went viral after they were spotted at a KFC outlet in the Vaal, Gauteng.
What was initially believed to be a marriage proposal turned out to have been a grand romantic gesture of an already married husband to his wife.
A week ago, Nonhlanhla Soldaat and Hector Mkansi captured the hearts of the nation, resulting in the term “KFC proposal” receiving thousands of online search queries on Friday. The couple chats to W24 about how that big moment came about.
“We didn’t buy new rings,” says Hector, “I just took our rings to be cleaned and then when they returned I thought to do something romantic and propose at KFC rather than take them home and give them to her (Nonhlanhla) there. So I thought of a plan of how I could give her the rings. When she stepped outside I decided to talk to one of the women who work there so she could take the rings and put them in her food. That was just an easy way for me to ‘propose’. I was just doing something small,” says Hector.
The couple met in 2010 and had their initial wedding in December 2018.
“It was a surprise, I didn’t expect anything because we just went to the mall like we usually do and the next thing, when I returned from the shops, I had a slight suspicion but I didn’t know anything. I was thinking that we’re already married and this man is a traditional man, he doesn’t do things like proposals so I was surprised," Nonhlanhla says.
“I didn’t know what to think, I was happy. But I was shy and everyone was watching and because of the way he planned it people at KFC already knew what was happening but I wasn’t aware. When he went on his knee they started screaming and singing and then there were many people around us, everything happened at once so I was happy but shocked at the same time.”
READ MORE: Weddings aren't only about the dress, here are 4 must-have bridal accessories
The pair says they had no idea they would get an opportunity to get the wedding of their dreams because it “wasn’t the kind of ceremony we wanted but because of the situation we continued with it last year”.
The couple has three children, the oldest one is 17 years old, and another is 12 and the last born is 7 years old.
Hector shares that he and Nonhlanhla are both unemployed. “At home no one is employed and we have children so life was difficult.”
Nonhlanhla is now studying towards a Bachelor of Education degree and they are leaders in their church. Before their video went viral on Twitter the couple says that they kept to themselves.
“We are leaders in our church so we were just people who were living their normal lives every Sunday at the church. We are also always together, you’ll hardly find a situation where you meet one of us and don’t see the other, we’re used to being together,” says Nonhlanhla.
READ MORE: Here are 10 'naked' wedding dresses for edgy brides to try out as seen on runways this year so far
Social media users have been anticipating what has been dubbed the “national wedding” but the couple says they are yet to plan the wedding.
“We’re still meeting with our respective families so it’s only now that we’re starting with the wedding plans. It’s only after that when we will be able to share what the next step will be and discuss the date. But what we know is that there will be a wedding,” says Nonhlanhla.
She does have a few ideas on how she would like it to look.
“I would like a fairytale wedding and have everything look beautiful," she says. “I would like for everything to look smart. I’d like to wear a long dress as well. We want all of South Africa’s provinces to be on the cake.”
Nonhlanhla and Hector’s relationship has been going strong for quite some time now and she shares what makes their bond special and strong.
“Love and respect are a big part of our marriage because if you don’t have love and respect there’s no marriage there,” says Nonhlanhla. “It takes working together, love, respect and communication."
READ MORE: Five lessons we learnt from Zulu Wedding
Hector adds to what the essence of their union is, “Love is patient, it’s persevering and it’s not self-seeking. When you love someone it’s not put on, you have to be sure that you love someone then love will do whatever it needs to do. Love is waking up early in the morning and deciding to spoil her and cook for her. So, love is working together.”
With all the excitement for the national wedding, the pair make sure to give a shout-out to South Africans who have supported them and pledged towards their wedding.
Nonhlanhla says, “All we’re saying is that we are grateful to South Africa, to everyone on Twitter, to everyone who has contributed because now we will have the wedding of our dreams because of South Africans.”
Do you have any well wishes for the 'national couple'? Let us know here.
Sign up to W24’s newsletters so you don't miss out on any of our hot stories and giveaways.
