Jana grew up in the Lowveld, surrounded by open spaces and long, slow summers. From early on, she knew she was drawn to drama – not drama as in chaos, but drama in the true sense: the stage, storytelling and performance. She went on to study acting, setting out on the path of a creative career. But as life often does, it took her in an unexpected direction.
“After studying, I became an air hostess in Dubai,” she says. “It was amazing. I saw the world, learned so much about different nations and cultures. I’ll always be grateful for that time in my life.”
For Jana, it wasn’t just about the destinations, although she did tick off some iconic ones, the Eiffel Tower, the Statue of Liberty, temples and towers and glittering cities. It was the people that made the deepest impression. “You hardly ever worked with someone from your own country,” she says. “You had to learn how to connect across languages, cultures, everything. It forced me to grow. And I loved that, it was one of the best experiences I could have had.”
After a year and a half in the sky, she returned to South Africa and slowly started building her acting career. For around ten years, Jana worked mainly in TV productions. “I would have loved to do more stage work, but more screen opportunities came my way and I followed them.” Her love of theatre never went away, though.
“There’s something about being on stage. I miss that connection with the audience. It’s immediate. Alive.”
And then, as is so often the case, life shifted. Jana met Stephan, and they got married. Priorities shifted when daughter Amia was born. “Acting had to take a backseat,” she says. “We weren’t living in Joburg or Cape Town, and that is where all the productions are. Trying to build a film or TV career from a smaller town, with a baby in tow, is incredibly difficult. I had to make peace with that. I wasn’t an actress anymore, I was a mother.”
Four years after Amia was born, Sebastian arrived, and life became busier, richer, and so much more demanding in every possible way. “These days, everything I do revolves around my kids,” Jana smiles. “Every decision I make, every plan is about them. They are the centre of my world.”
But recently, a familiar feeling has begun to stir. A nudge. “I feel the itch again,” she admits. “To be on stage. To put something together. Maybe a play. I’ve been thinking about doing something local. There’s no solid plan yet, not really, but its a little seed. It’s there. We’ll have to see where it goes…”
In the meantime, home has become a different kind of creative space. The kitchen is one of the places where the magic happens now, and for Jana and Stephan, food isn’t just about
food, it’s a lifestyle. “It’s not always possible, but we like to make most of what we eat from scratch, and avoid processed stuff.”
Cooking is a particular passion of Jana’s, and Stephan loves making bread, especially sourdough. “Pizza is another obsession,” she laughs. “I make everything, the base, the sauce, the toppings. If I could make the cheese myself, I would!”
Another ultra-yummy indulgence Jana makes is homemade ice-cream. “I do all sorts of varieties,” she says, “and the kids love to help me make them. Especially Amia. She’s very independent in the kitchen, and she loves to cook and help out. She knows if there’s something she wants to eat, and it’s reasonable, she can make it herself.”
Jana’s idyllic life was shaken to its core just last year. Early in October, she
went in for what was meant to be a routine and very necessary hysterectomy, which turned into something far more dangerous. “I started feeling really bad after the operation, I was incredibly sick,” she says. “We called the doctor, and he rightly suspected that one of the clamps on the fallopian tubes had come loose. I was bleeding, a lot, and they rushed me to ER and opened me up again.”
What followed was pure trauma. “I was terrified. I knew that I was dying. I’ve always been a spiritual person, but I don’t think I’ve ever prayed like that before. Not in my life.” By the time they got Jana back into surgery, two litres of blood had already collected in her abdominal cavity. They had to drain the blood and do a transfusion. “The doctor later told me if we had waited thirty minutes longer, I would have died.”
Physically, Jana healed very quickly. Emotionally, she experienced depression, but she went for therapy and thought she was fine. She didn’t know it yet, but one of the most challenging times of her life was racing towards her.
“I was okay. I prayed a lot, got counselling and dealt with it. Put it behind me. Then, a month and a half later, around mid-November, I realised I wasn’t sleeping, and that I couldn’t fall asleep. I just lay there, night after night, wide awake. Looking back I think it probably started earlier, but with everything that was going on, I didn’t see it for what it was.”
Jana has tried everything, from heavy medication to natural treatments. “It’s still a struggle. I’ve learned that even though I have absolutely no issues or resentment towards the doctor, the nurses or the hospital, my body is retaining a memory of the trauma. To cut a long story short, I have something they call General Anxiety Disorder.”
The anxiety manifests physically too, mainly in her neck, especially where the tension builds up, and Jana sees therapists regularly for lymph drainage and physical stress relief. While the problem persists, she’s learned to manage her sleep with as much care and intention as she manages her food. “Good sleep hygiene, food conducive to a restful night, I’m doing everything I can to alleviate it. It’s just one of those things I have to live with, for now.”
Despite it all, Jana speaks with quiet pride about the year she’s had, and how she held everything together. “My husband travels a lot, so it’s often just me and the kids, and somehow, all the right boxes are always ticked. I am so in love with everything in my life at the moment, my beautiful kids, a supportive husband who would do anything for me, and who makes me laugh. I appreciate that so much.”
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It’s been a tough year, but she believes the worst of it is over. “I feel like I have been given a second chance. My health is excellent now,” she smiles, “I still don’t sleep well, that’s a perpetual thorn in my side, but I believe it will be resolved in time. But as for everything else, I feel strong. I’ve grown – spiritually, emotionally and physically. This whole experience has forced me to take a serious look at my life. Not to take anything for granted.”
And on that note, Jana is off to make lunch. “Stephan and I are having friends over, and we are doing the cooking together,” she smiles, “prawn bisque for starters, served with homemade pasta.” Made from scratch, slow cooked, and served with scrumptious wine, it promises to be a laid-back and chilled affair, which is just how life in the Lowveld should be.
