Bonang Dorothy Matheba (born 25 June 1987), is a South African television presenter, radio personality, actress and social media personality. She is known for her flamboyant presenting skills and her signature voice. She presented the

SABC 1 SABC 1 is a South African public television network operated by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC). It broadcasts programming in English and Nguni languages. SABC 1 was established in 1996 following the SABC's restructuring of it ...

music show ''LIVE'' (now ''Live Amp'') which built her spotlight in the industry. In 2006 she was a hostess on a late night pay-per-call call-in game show. Participants had to call-in to guess the answer to a simple puzzle and win cash prizes. In 2011, she became the first South African celebrity to launch an online reality show called ''B*Dazzled''. In 2013, she was the first international ambassador for the cosmetic brand

Revlon Revlon, Inc. is an American multinational company dealing in cosmetics, skin care, perfume, and personal care. The headquarters of Revlon was established in New York City on March 1, 1932, where it remains. Revlon was founded by brothers Charle ...

, outside the US. In 2014, she hosted the

2014 MTV Europe Music Awards The 2014 MTV EMAs (also known as the MTV Europe Music Awards) were held at The SSE Hydro, Glasgow, Scotland on 9 November 2014. This was the first time since 2003 when the awards were held in Scotland and the fifth time the United Kingdom has ...

pre-show, which made her become the first South African to host the pre-ceremony. In 2015, she became the first African to be given an E! News Special Africa on E!. Matheba has over 5 million followers on Instagram and Twitter. In 2016, she appeared on the cover of ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'' Woman Africa, alongside three other women who were all given a headline for being the Faces of Entrepreneurship. She released her book ''From A to B'' and premiered her own reality show ''Being Bonang'', both in 2017. In 2018, she was featured on the power issue of '' GQ SA'', for the September edition. In 2024, She was the presenter for the 2024 Earthshot Prize Awards held in Cape Town, South Africa, a first for the awards in any African country.

Early life

Bonang was born on 25 June 1987 in

Mahikeng Mahikeng ( Tswana for "Place of Rocks"), formerly known as Mafikeng and alternatively known as Mafeking (, ), is the capital city of the North West province of South Africa. Close to South Africa's border with Botswana, Mafikeng is northeast ...

borough of North West, to Charlotte Mokoena, the Executive Vice-president for Human Resource and Corporate Affairs of

Sasol Sasol Limited, commonly referred to as Sasol, is an integrated energy and chemical company based in Sandton, South Africa. The company was formed in 1950 in Sasolburg, South Africa, and built around coal liquefaction processes that German ...

, and Gampi Matheba, a senior lecturer at

North-West University The North-West University (NWU) is a public research university located on three campuses in Potchefstroom, Mahikeng and Vanderbijlpark in South Africa. The university came into existence through the merger in 2004 of the Potchefstroom Univer ...

. She is of the

Bantu-speaking The Bantu languages (English: , Proto-Bantu: *bantʊ̀), or Ntu languages are a language family of about 600 languages of Central, Southern, Eastern and Southeast Africa. They form the largest branch of the Southern Bantoid languages. The t ...

ethnic group

Tswana Tswana may refer to: * Tswana people, the Bantu languages, Bantu speaking people in Botswana, South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and other Southern Africa regions * Tswana language, the language spoken by the (Ba)Tswana people * Tswanaland, ...

. The family relocated to Leondale, in the East of

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

, while Bonang attended Fourways High School, a government co-ed school in Fourways, Johannesburg.

Career

Television and film

In 2002, Matheba made her television debut on the

SABC 2 SABC 2 is a South African free-to-air television channel owned by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC). The channel was createdin its current form on 4 February 1996, due to the restructuring of the three national SABC networks. As ...

kids show, ''Manhattan Fantasy Challenge'' while she was 15. She also appeared in several other SABC 2 kids shows. In 2007, Matheba auditioned for the inaugural season of the

music show ''LIVE'' (now ''Live Amp'') after leaving varsity. She was later crowned the winner of the show to co-host alongside Tbo Touch. Her presenting duties were a huge success and that's where her sobriquet "Queen B" was created. Her final episode was aired on 31 August 2012 as she announced she was leaving the show. After her departure from ''LIVE'', she hosted several other shows including '' Clash of the Choirs SA'', '' Afternoon Express'', '' Top Billing'' and ''KFC'' Taste Kitchen. Matheba has hosted numerous award shows and prominent events the most notable being

MTV Africa Music Awards 2016 The 2016 MTV Africa Music Awards were held on October 22, 2016, at Ticketpro Dome in Johannesburg, South Africa. It recognised and rewarded musicians and achievers who made an impact on African music and youth culture during the eligibility peri ...

, Miss South Africa 2018, and the pre-shows for the

and

BET Awards 2016 The 16th BET Awards were held at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, California on June 26, 2016. The ceremony celebrated mass achievements in black entertainment and honored music, sports, television, and motion pictures released between April ...

. On 2 December 2018, Matheba co-hosted the Global Citizen: Mandela 100 concert alongside comedian

Trevor Noah Trevor Noah (born 20 February 1984) is a South African comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. He was the host of ''The Daily Show'', an American late-night talk show and satirical news program on Comedy ...

, supermodel

Naomi Campbell Naomi Elaine Campbell (born 22 May 1970) is a British supermodel. Beginning her career at the age of eight, Campbell was one of six models of her generation declared supermodels by the fashion industry and the international press. She was th ...

and other notable public figures. In 2008, Matheba made her debut drama role on the SABC 1 show, ''InterSEXions'' where she played Nurse Seipati. As of 2019, Matheba starred and co-produced the documentary film ''Public Figure'', which premiered on March, 9 at Manchester Film Festival. Matheba founded her production house called Bonang Matheba Entertainment in 2017. The production unit has one show, which is the

1Magic 1Magic (also known as One Magic) was a subscription-based digital satellite television general entertainment channel created by M-Net and MultiChoice for DStv. It is one of the resultant channels from the M-Net series channel created in 2000. ...

reality show, ''Being Bonang'' which focuses and showcases Matheba's daily life. In May 2022, she co-hosted Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards. In August 2023, Matheba was announced as the host of Miss South Africa pageant 2023. Towards the end of July 2024, Bonang announced her reality show ''B’Dazzled by Bonang'', premiered on SABC 3 at 18:00 pm SAST, on July 29. In early September 2024, Matheba was announced as the host of Miss Universe pageant. Matheba, along with Billy Porter, hosted the Earthshot Prize Awards held in Cape Town on 6 November 2024.

Radio

In 2009, Matheba received a call from radio station

YFM YFM (99.2 FM) is a "Youth" radio station in Johannesburg, South Africa. Established in 1997, the station is formatted to mostly play urban music genres such as Kwaito, Hip Hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular m ...

in which she was told that she'll be added to the new line-up of presenters. She received her own weekend afternoon show called, "The B* Hive", which was an instant success mainly focusing on young listeners. She then left the radio show in 2014. Matheba was announced as a new radio DJ for radio station

Metro FM Metro FM is a national commercial radio station in South Africa owned by the South African Broadcasting Corporation. The station broadcasts on FM Stereo as well as the DStv Bouquet Channel 801. Telephone : History The station started broad ...

in 2015. She replaced Siphokazi January who became the new Metro FM veteran. Matheba's slot show ''The Front Row'', had a great and joyful listenership until a dispute with the radio station's manager, after an on-air reshuffle that saw Bonang hosting the show alongside her rumored longtime industry rival Lerato Kganyago without her notification arose. Outraged by their lack of communication, Bonang resigned from the radio station the next day.

Fashion

In 2008, Matheba made a collaboration with retailer Legit in launching her first clothing line, "Just B". She then partnered with a London-based designer to create a handbag collection called "Baby Star". In 2014, high-end South African retail brand '' Woolworths'', revealed a collaboration with Bonang. They dropped a lingerie line "Distraction By Bonang", which is still ongoing as new collections were introduced. In 2018, Matheba alongside Superbalist, dropped a collection of T-shirts named "BONANG by Bonang Matheba". The T-shirts had famous Bonang quotes printed on them, including "Mo'ghel", "Give The People What They Want" and "#IAmBonang".

''The House of BNG''

On 18 March 2019, Matheba exclusively partnered with Woolworths in launching a range of luxury Méthode Cap Classique (MCC) called, "The House of BNG". The venture made her the first black woman to be added to the Méthode Cap Classique Association.

Other projects

Endorsements

In 2013, she was named the ambassador of cosmetic brand

in South Africa. The deal made her the first international ambassador for the brand outside the United States. In October 2016, Matheba was unveiled as an ambassador for the vodka brand,

Cîroc Cîroc is a brand of alcoholic beverages produced in France since 2003 and owned by the British-based multinational alcoholic beverage maker Diageo. The brand family includes vodka, flavored products containing vodka, and brandy. From 2007 the ...

in Africa, alongside fashion designer David Tlale, hip hop artist, Da L.E.S and club DJ, DJ Dimplez. After a trip to

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

in 2017, she was named the new African Brand Ambassador for Ipanema sandals, taking over from Brazilian supermodel

Gisele Bündchen Gisele Caroline Bündchen (, , born 20 July 1980) is a Brazilian fashion model. Since 2001, she has been one of the highest-paid models in the world. In 2007, Bündchen was the 16th-richest woman in the entertainment industry and earned the ...

. It was later revealed that during her trip she had taken meetings with the Brazilian sandal-makers and even shot an advertisement in Rio de Janeiro. In 2018, Matheba signed an endorsement deal with cellular network

Cell C Cell C is a mobile telecommunications company operating in South Africa, offering voice, data, messaging, and mobile virtual network operator A mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) is a wireless communications services provider that does no ...

, a deal that saw her partnering with them to also launch her own mobile app and an emoji pack called "BMoji". Other Bonang's endorsements include

Peugeot Peugeot (, , ) is a French automobile brand owned by Stellantis. The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was established in 1810, making it the oldest car company in the world. On 20 November 1858, Émile Peugeot applie ...

, BIC Razors, Brutal Fruit, Diva Divine Hair, Lifestyle Pads, and

Courvoisier Courvoisier () is a brand of cognac, with production based in the town of Jarnac in the Charente region of France. It is the youngest and smallest of the "big four" cognac houses (the others are Hennessy, Rémy Martin, and Martell). Courvoisi ...

. In 2020, Bonang was announced as

Samsung Samsung Group (; stylised as SΛMSUNG) is a South Korean Multinational corporation, multinational manufacturing Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in the Samsung Town office complex in Seoul. The group consists of numerous a ...

South Africa's ambassador, for their S20 range and the Z Flip. In September 2020, she was featured on Glamour Magazine cover with a model Rich Mnisi.

Writing

On 7 June 2017, Matheba released her autobiographical book ''From A to B'' written through Black Bird Books' Thabiso Mahlape. The book received negative publicity from the South African public, with many lambasting the book on social media regarding its litany of spelling, grammatical and factual errors. The outcry led to the book being pulled from store shelves by book retailing giant

Exclusive Books Exclusive Books is one of South Africa's largest bookselling chains with stores throughout South Africa, and one store in Gaborone, Botswana and one in Windhoek, Namibia. As of 1 December 2013, the chain is owned and operated by a private group ...

. It was later replaced with a second edition where many of the previous errors were corrected.

Personal life

Matheba dated the local hip-hop artist, Slikour until 2009. In 2012, Matheba dated record producer and disc jockey Euphonik. Euphonik was charged with assault after it surfaced that he

physically assaulted In the terminology of law, an assault is the act of causing physical harm or unwanted physical contact to another person, or, in some legal definitions, the threat or attempt to do so. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result i ...

her. She then dropped the charges after the couple reconciled. As she dropped the charges, people had accusations that Matheba lied about the incident. Matheba refuted these claims, stating: "I never anticipated how badly I would be treated when the story of my break-up was leaked. It was one of the most painful experiences and sometimes I am not sure how I survived", a reference about him in her book, ''From A To B''. She then removed the reference in the second version of the book. From late 2015 to 2017, Matheba dated rapper AKA. Their relationship, having started as an affair, was filled with controversy, taking place while AKA was dating a then-pregnant DJ Zinhle, who later exposed the fling in August 2015 following their split. Matheba has since kept the details of her partners and personal life relatively private.

Filmography

Television

Film

Accolades

African Entertainment Awards USA

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National Film and Television Awards

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Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Matheba, Bonang 1987 births Living people South African television personalities 21st-century South African businesswomen 21st-century South African businesspeople South African philanthropists South African women philanthropists 21st-century South African philanthropists