Bonnie Mbuli
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Bonnie Mbuli (born 3 March 1979) is a South African actress, businesswoman, and television personality. She was formerly known professionally as Bonnie Henna. She was a presenter on the
SABC 3 SABC 3, also branded as S3, is a South African free-to-air television channel owned by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC). Since March 2024, it carries programming in English and Afrikaans only. History On 1 January 1982, two tel ...
show '' Afternoon Express''. Since 2020, she has starred in the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
drama series ''
Noughts + Crosses File:2000s decade montage3.png, From top left, clockwise: The Twin Towers of the original World Trade Center on fire and the Statue of Liberty on the left during the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001; the euro enters into European currency ...
''.


Early years

Mbuli was born in
Soweto Soweto () is a Township (South Africa), township of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for ''South Western T ...
, South Africa, in 1979. She attended the Dominican Convent School in Belgravia, Johannesburg, and then
Greenside High School Greenside High School is a public co-educational high school in Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa. Greenside High School (voted Best Public High School in Joburg) is situated in the suburb of Greenside. Facilities Greenside High School incr ...
in Greenside, Johannesburg. The eldest of three children, she was discovered at a bus stop on her way home from school by an actor's agent, who cast her in her first television role in the series ''Viva Families'' in 1992, when she was 13 years old.


Career

This was followed with cameo roles in international productions ''Born Free 2'' and ''Cave Girls''. Mbuli went on to present various magazine programs for television including ''Teleschool'', ''Zapmag'', ''Technics Heart of the Beat'' and ''Limits Unlimited''. In 2001, she landed a lead role in the television soap opera ''Backstage'', which was aimed at South African youth. She was later cast in the role of Portia in ''Gazlam''. This was followed by a role in the detective series ''Zero Tolerance''. Mbuli hosted a talk show in
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
on SABC 1, '' True-Life'', won a role in the mini-series ''Homecoming'', and appeared in two Canadian television series: ''
Charlie Jade ''Charlie Jade'' is a science fiction television series filmed mainly in Cape Town, South Africa. It stars Jeffrey Pierce in the title role, as a detective from a parallel universe who finds himself trapped in our universe. This is a Canadian and ...
'', a sci-fi epic; and '' Scouts Safari'', an adventure series set in the African wild. She completed a major role on ''
Home Affairs An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a Ministry (government department), government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law e ...
'', a thirteen-part series that interlinked the lives of five very different women, for
Penguin Films Penguins are a group of aquatic flightless birds from the family Spheniscidae () of the order Sphenisciformes (). They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere. Only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is equatorial, with a small ...
. Mbuli went on to play lead roles in the television series ''
Soul City The soul is the purported immaterial aspect or essence of a living being. It is typically believed to be immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that describe the relationship between the soul and the body ...
'' and ''Hillside'' for SABC 1 and SABC 2 . She was then cast in the series '' The Philanthropist'' for NBC (later also on SABC 3). In film, she has played the role of singer Dolly Radebe, in ''Drum'', the lead role in the Danish film ''Blinded Angels''. In 2006, she played Precious Chamusso in ''Catch a Fire''. She played
Zindzi Mandela Zindziswa "Zindzi" Mandela (23 December 196013 July 2020), also known as Zindzi Mandela-Hlongwane, was a South African diplomat and poet, and the daughter of anti-apartheid activists and politicians Nelson Mandela and Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. ...
in
Clint Eastwood Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western (genre), Western TV series ''Rawhide (TV series), Rawhide'', Eastwood rose to international fame with his role as the "Ma ...
's film ''
Invictus "Invictus" is a short poem by the Victorian era British poet William Ernest Henley (1849–1903). Henley wrote it in 1875, and in 1888 he published it in his first volume of poems, ''Book of Verses'', in the section titled "Life and Death (Echoe ...
''. She starred in
E.tv e.tv (commonly referred to on-air as e) is the first and only privately owned free-to-air television station in South Africa. Founded in 1998, the company is headquartered in Cape Town. It is the fifth terrestrial television channel in the ...
's ''Rhythm City'', on Mzansi Magic's drama series ''Rockville'' as Dudu, and on
E.tv e.tv (commonly referred to on-air as e) is the first and only privately owned free-to-air television station in South Africa. Founded in 1998, the company is headquartered in Cape Town. It is the fifth terrestrial television channel in the ...
's crime investigation series ''Traffic''. In 2015, Mbuli starred opposite Sir Kenneth Charles Branagh as policewoman Grace Mthembu in the British series ''Wallander''. Since 2020, she has starred as Jasmine Hadley in the British series ''
Noughts + Crosses File:2000s decade montage3.png, From top left, clockwise: The Twin Towers of the original World Trade Center on fire and the Statue of Liberty on the left during the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001; the euro enters into European currency ...
''.


Personal life

Mbuli was married to actor and television personality
Sisanda Henna Sisanda Henna (born 18 March 1982) is a South African film producer, director, and actor. Early life and education Sisanda Henna was born on 18 March 1982 in Bisho, Eastern Cape, South Africa. He later trained as a story and script editor a ...
. They had two children together, one of whom was adopted. She adopted her husband's surname. After their divorce, she authored an autobiography.


Filmography


In popular culture

As Bonnie Henna, she was namechecked on ''
Chicago Med ''Chicago Med'' is an American medical drama series broadcast by NBC and created by Dick Wolf as the third installment of the ''Chicago'' franchise. It stars Nick Gehlfuss, Yaya DaCosta, Torrey DeVitto, Rachel DiPillo, Colin Donnell, ...
'' by the South African surgeon.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mbuli, Bonnie Living people People from Soweto South African actresses 1979 births Alumni of Greenside High School