On Tuesday afternoon, Springbok rugby player Siya Kolisi and his wife Rachel announced the termination of their marriage in a joint statement.
The devastating revelation comes just after the couple returned to South Africa from France, where Siya had finished his contract with Racing 92.
“This decision comes from a place of love, respect and understanding that this is the best path forward for both of us. While our relationship as a couple is changing, we remain great friends and committed partners in raising our children with the same love and care they’ve always known.
“We will also continue working together on the Foundation that means so much to us,” read the statement posted on their official social media accounts.
Many people like the couple, who met at a dinner party in Stellenbosch back in 2012. They became friends, and this was the beginning of their love story.
They had their first child, Nicholas Siyamthanda, in 2015, followed by their daughter Keziah in 2017. They adopted Siya’s younger half-siblings, Liyema and Liphelo, in 2014.
Rachel gave up her work as an event planner and marketing executive to become a full-time mother to their four children because of Siya’s hectic schedule. She later oversaw their Kolisi Foundation.
Siya and Rachel married on August 13, 2016, in a magnificent ceremony in Franschhoek, which was also filmed on “Top Billing” cameras.
The couple went through difficult times together, including racial abuse and women allegedly attempting to interfere with her marriage.
Rachel has previously used social media to criticize women for referring to Siya as a “type” and sending him inappropriate Instagram comments.
Rachel and Siya celebrated their seventh anniversary last year, and in an interview with Siv Ngesi, he spoke about how Rachel stuck by him when he was struggling, taking in two other children and assisting him in starting a family.
He said: “I wanted a family, I longed for a family. She got pregnant and before Nick was born we found my brother and sister.
“She took in two other kids who couldn’t speak a word of English and I was not in a good place. I was living like I had no family. She stayed with me,” recounted Siya.
The Kolisi’s statement did not shed light on the reason behind the split but they asked for respect as they navigate the transition and thanked the public for the love, understanding and support they had shown them.