As seen in Clicks Magazine, June–July 2025 edition.

There’s a quiet revolution happening in the Sikwanehousehold — one that’s less about volume and more about presence. Legendary radio personality DJ Fresh — whose deep, commanding voice has dominated South Africa’s airwaves for over three decades — is learning to listen more than speak. This time, not in a studio booth, but at the dinner table, during school drop-offs, and in heart-to-heart conversations with his children.

And he’s doing it all while reimagining what fatherhood looks like — especially when life doesn’t go according to plan.

 

A New Chapter, Written in Real Time

In his recent cover feature for Clicks Magazine, DJ Fresh (real name Thato Sikwane) opens up about the seismic shifts in his life over the past few years: the passing of his ex-wife and co-parent Thabiso Sikwane, the full-time care of their children, and a profound return to self. While the world knows him as a DJ, entrepreneur, and broadcaster, his most important role now is being “Dad.”

“Your kids just want time with you,” he says simply. “So make an effort each week to spend an hour with each child alone. If you can afford to, go out and do something fun together.” That kind of intentional parenting — intimate, scheduled, sacred — has become his anchor.

 

From Trauma to TRC: Healing the Father Wound

 

Born and raised in Botswana, Fresh describes his own relationship with his father — a businessman who moved to the US when Fresh was just 15 — as deeply strained. “For many of us, our childhoods were traumatic… we didn’t call it trauma or child abuse, but in reality, it was.”

 

But what makes his story remarkable is the healing that followed. In 2002, Fresh and his father sat down for what he calls their “own TRC.” “We really levelled with each other,” he recalls. “It helped us move forward healthily.”

 

That commitment to truth-telling now lives on in the Sikwanehousehold. Fresh has long implemented “honesty hours” with his children — regular, safe spaces to raise concerns and feelings. It’s a powerful legacy of emotional literacy — one not often associated with black fatherhood, but one Fresh insists is essential. “It’s about avoiding the need for TRCs later in life,” he says with a smile.

 

Fatherhood, His Way

Now a single father to four — including Thato Jr. (22), a rising DJ known as YBF, and youngest son Lefika (10) — Fresh’s version of parenting is hands-on, creative and deeply present. He plans meals, helps with homework, sneaks in cardio before sunrise, and even dreams of mastering baking.

 

“I was kicked out of the kitchen when I got married,” he laughs. “But now I enjoy the creativity of being back in there.”

Still grieving, still adjusting, he acknowledges the complexity of parenting through loss. But there’s also beauty. “Naturally, the children were closer to their mother,” he reflects. “But since her passing, our bonds are growing deeper.”

 

The Return to Radio — and Purpose

After a four-year hiatus focused on podcasting and business, DJ Fresh is returning to his first love: radio. But this time, he’s not chasing numbers or clout. “I’m going the community radio route,” he shares. “It may be a smaller audience, but I’m no less determined to make an impact.”

 

Fresh’s philosophy is clear: Radio is an opportunity to change people’s lives in the now. It’s a mission rooted in empathy. “The average person is one song away from wanting to end it all,” he says soberly. “So I don’t take for granted that the next song I play could be the one that gives them hope.”

Forging Forward, Softly

Whether it’s spending quiet time with his kids, teaching through conversation, or showing vulnerability as a black man in the public eye, Fresh is rewriting the script on fatherhood. “In every single crisis, I look for the lesson. There is always a silver lining.”

 

In a culture that often equates masculinity with stoicism, DJ Fresh is offering an alternative: tenderness, transparency, and time. And in doing so, he’s showing a new generation — of fathers, sons, and South Africans — what strength really looks like.

As featured in Clicks Magazine – June/July 2025 issue.