South African Lady Dies During Birthday Visit to Nigeria, Father Seeks Financial support
Vale family in Rustenburg, North West, began 2025 in grief as their daughter Primrose Happy Vale, 29, passed away on December 22 while visiting friends in Nigeria for the holiday season.
Her father, Orlando, stated that he heard that his daughter died from malaria in Lagos. He only got the news a week after her passing.
Primrose’s father asked South Africans for financial assistance to repatriate the body of a his daughter.
“We are currently in the dark and desperately want to see her body. And we are heartbroken that she is gone. We went to Home Affairs and they said it would cost R50, 000 to bring her back so we can have a burial for her.
“I’m a pensioner and cannot afford that much money and I am asking people for help.
“We will be happy when we see her body.”
“I last spoke to my daughter on 21 December and after that when I called she didn’t pick up. Even on her birthday on Christmas Day, I called and texted but there was no response.
“I couldn’t reach her until I received a call from her friend on 28 December informing me that my child had passed away,” said the father.
The deceased, who worked as a makeup artist in Cape Town, travelled to Nigeria to celebrate her birthday. She travelled with a friend her father was allegedly unaware of.
“She went there to enjoy December and was going to come back after New Year’s Day. I don’t know who she went to visit but I know it was her friends.”
The pensioner was told that he would need money in order to return his daughter’s body to South Africa.
The incident has divided social media, with South Africans questioning how her father could allow her to leave a 10 year old child and visit a foreign country without leaving behind details of her trip, her host and where she would be staying. Others are using the incident as a warning to local girls against human trafficking.
Primrose’s death started trending on social media a few days ago when videos of her and her alleged Nigerian host were circulated. In the videos she is seen dining with the man on a luxury boat.
In another video she can be seen twerking against the same man, who was rapping songs about how he is enjoying life. And in all the videos, she seemed happy as the man fondled her.
Later a video of her in what looked like a hospital bed with a drip attached to her hand emerged. She looked really unwell.
However, upon news of her death, the same man came to social media and vehemently denied that she was visiting him. He said in a series of posts that Primrose was in Nigeria to visit some man, not him. He was only dining with her because he knew her from his previous visits to South Africa.
But in all his posts he failed to give details of the mysterious man that Primrose was visiting. She was working as a makeup artist in Cape Town, and her mysterious host allegedly paid for her to fly to Nigeria. The visit was allegedly for her birthday on Christmas Day.
