WATCH: Mr Write finds Mrs Right
Yusuf and Thaamiena share engagement news with his followers
Mitchells Plain-born author Yusuf Daniels is getting ready to tie the knot.
The dad of three took to Facebook on Thursday to announce his engagement to his 53 000 surprised followers.
In the live Facebook video, the Living Coloured writer was joined by his oulike eldest daughter Thaamiena, 18, who is making a name for herself as she chats to fans in broken Afrikaans.
Yusuf, 50, divorced his first wife and the mom of his kids nearly four years ago and revealed that he has been seeing his fiancee for three years now.
That’s about as much as he would reveal about his bride-to-be, who he says is a very “private” woman.
“She was the woman who is responsible for book one. She is the one who sent off the stories to publishers without my knowledge,” he tells the Daily Voice.
“If it wasn't for her, there would have been no book, nothing.”
Yusuf says he was sad that his mom Jessie passed away before he could tell her of his intention to propose.
“I decided to propose at the end of 2020, but my mom got sick on 25 December. Four days later my mom passed away.”
He says while on a family day out to Franschhoek on 31 December, he decided to pop the big question.
“We were strolling around town alone and went to have coffee. I asked the waitress to put the ring on the plate of the coffee she was having. I went on my knee.”
He says she said yes, and although his children love the woman and approves of the marriage, he still needed his mom’s blessing.
“I wasn't sure how my mother felt about this, so every day for 15 days I sat on my musallah, asking God to give me a sign that my mother was happy with what I did.
“On the 15th day, I got a Facebook inbox message from a woman whom I don't know.
“She said, ‘Yusuf, I don't know your mother but she came to me in a dream and said she was satisfied with you, she had all this nur (light) in her face and she said you made a perfect choice’. And at this time, I haven't told anyone about the engagement yet. I was really surprised, this was the closure I needed.”
Yusuf says unbeknownst to him, his mother also kept material for a trourok for his future wife, which her friend brought to him.
He says they haven’t set a wedding date yet.