Kashief Cookson, 21 of Steenberg, had his first party ever at the age of 21, on Saturday June 6.
Kashief is the second-eldest sibling of five, but became the eldest and leader of the family after his sister died of leukaemia, a year after his mother had died of chronic tuberculosis (TB) 10 years ago.
At his small birthday party held at the Woodstock Upliftment Project kitchen in Salt River, which partially funded his party, an emotional Kashief, who is an aspiring tattoo artist and was gifted a tattoo machine, said he had had a hard life, but he wanted to make it better for himself and be an example to his siblings. “I’ve never, in my entire life, had a party before. I want to thank everyone who was a part of this.”