It is a popular phrase used to describe how tough life is.

The person using the phrase will say ‘bophelo ke’, and then continue the sentence with something that they compare the difficulty of life to.

Ke bone a tweet e reng “bophelo ke dijo tsa Tito Mboweni” 😭😭😭😭😭

— Mbalenhle (@mbalenhle1005) September 29, 2020