Siya Kolisi is both brother and father figure to his little sister – now she’s reached a huge milestone

Springboks captain Siya Kolisi has watched his younger sister Liphelo grow up – not simply as her big brother, but as one of the people responsible for raising her.

Now, more than a decade after Kolisi brought Liphelo into his family home, she has reached a major milestone.

Liphelo is in matric, her final year of school in South Africa, with Rachel Kolisi sharing an emotional update as the teenager approaches the end of that chapter.

Posting a collection of photographs from the year, Rachel wrote simply: “A lot of lasts this year.”

The story behind their relationship is remarkable.

Liphelo is Kolisi's younger half-sister. After their mother died, she and brother Liyema spent time in the foster care system while Siya's rugby career was beginning to take off.

Kolisi eventually tracked them down in Zwide after years apart.

The reunion was heartbreaking.

“My little sister didn't know me,” Kolisi previously recalled. “She had been crawling when I last saw her.”

He initially arranged for his siblings to spend the December holidays with him.

But when the time came for them to return, Kolisi couldn't do it.

“I can't send them back,” he recalled deciding.

An 18-month legal process followed before Kolisi became their legal guardian, with Liphelo and Liyema joining his family permanently in 2014.

Rachel previously revealed she was just 24 at the time, while Liphelo was seven and Liyema 12.

Despite Siya and Rachel announcing their separation in 2024, Rachel has remained a major figure in Liphelo's life.

Twelve years after the family came together, Liphelo is now preparing to finish school – another significant moment in one of rugby's most remarkable family stories.