Trevor Noah has recalled the horrific moment he heard the news that his mother, Patricia, had been shot in the head in a domestic dispute with his stepfather.
Speaking in an interview this week, the 40-year-old South African shared a glimpse of his childhood. This included living as a mixed-race child in Soweto and witnessing gender-based violence (GBV) in his home.
In 2009, Ngisaveni Shingange, also known as Abel, shot Trevor’s mom in a fit of rage. The bullet shattered her jaw and pierced her skull. Miraculously, she survived.
TREVOR NOAH ON HIS MOTHER’S SHOOTING
Speaking in The Diary of a CEO podcast this week, Trevor Noah reflected on his complex childhood, which included being born “illegally” to an interracial couple.
The SA comedian’s mother, Patricia, is Xhosa, while his father, Robert Noah, is a Swiss white man.
After the couple called it quits, Patricia wed Abel, and the couple had two sons, Isaac and Andrew. However, their marriage was fraught with domestic abuse at the hands of Abel, who was an alcoholic. Eventually, they separated, and Patricia and her sons moved out.
In 2009, Patricia got engaged to another man, Sifiso Khoza. A jealous Abel tracked her down, shooting her in the face in front of her partner.
Reflecting on the moment, Trevor said: “I got a phone call from my younger brother saying that my mom has been shot. I knew exactly what happened and who did it”.
“The doctor said it was a miracle [that she survived].”
According to Trevor Noah’s late maternal grandmother, Normaliza, Abel wanted to kill the star, too. Trevor fled to the US after receiving death threats.
Trevor bemoaned how Abel received just three years of correctional services on attempted murder charges, which was described as a “crime of passion.”
He said, “It’s a failing of the justice system that has meant that many women in South Africa and other parts of the world don’t feel like justice gets served”.
‘I’M STILL IN THERAPY’
Trevor Noah added that witnessing his mother experience GBV still affects him today. The experience left him with “rage” and “hypersensivity” in social environments.
He continued: “I will never take for granted what it was like growing up in a home where there was domestic violence. It was one of the worst things you can experience. Its something I still deal with in therapy today.
Images via YouTube screenshot: The Daily Show/ Instagram @trevornoah
Since the shooting, Trevor claimed that he had never seen his mother “the same way.”
“Every time I look at her, I’m grateful that she exists. Every time I hold her, I hug her like it was the last time”.
IS TREVOR NOAH USING HIS PLATFORM TO SHINE A LIGHT ON GBV?
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