Gugulethu Zuma-Ncube (born 10 October 1985) is a South African producer, actress and daughter of former President

Jacob Zuma Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma (; born 12 April 1942) is a South African politician who served as the fourth president of South Africa from 2009 to 2018. He is also referred to by his initials JZ and clan name Msholozi, and was a former anti-aparth ...

and

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a Social democracy, social-democratic political party in Republic of South Africa, South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when ...

(ANC) politician

Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma Nkosazana Clarice Dlamini-Zuma (née Dlamini; born 27 January 1949), sometimes referred to by her initials NDZ, is a South African politician, medical doctor and former anti-apartheid activist. A longstanding member of the African National Cong ...

, and daughter-in-law to Zimbabwean

Movement for Democratic Change Alliance The Movement for Democratic Change Alliance was an electoral coalition of seven political parties formed to contest Zimbabwe's 2018 general election. After the 2018 election, a dispute arose over the use of the name MDC Alliance leading the MDC ...

politician Professor

Welshman Ncube Welshman Ncube (born 7 July 1961) is a Zimbabwean lawyer, businessman and politician. He is the founding MDC leader and former President of Zimbabwean political party Movement for Democratic Change – Ncube. He currently serves within the Cit ...

Early life

Zuma-Ncube was born in 1985. In 2007, she graduated from

AFDA AFDA is a private Higher Education institution that offers courses in film, television, performance, business innovation and technology, radio and podcasting. It has campuses located in Auckland Park, Johannesburg; Observatory, Cape Town; Dur ...

with a Live Performance degree. ''Sindiswa'', a graduation film in which she played a role, was nominated for the Student Academy Awards (Student Oscars) in Hollywood. She met her future husband, Wesley Ncube, while she was studying in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

, and married him at the end of 2008.

Career

Gugulethu has appeared in several television shows, including ''Interrogation Room'',

SABC3 SABC 3 (stylised as S3) is a South African free-to-air public television network owned by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC). It carries programming in English and, few in other South African languages. It has a number of its own re ...

's '' Isidingo'', and

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. It is the fifth terrestrial television channel in the country, following three channels that are operated by the sta ...

's ''Rhythm City''.

''It's for Life''

Through Nyenyedzi Productions, which she co-owns with her sisters Nokuthula Nomaqhawe and

Thuthukile Zuma Thuthukile Zuma (born 28 April 1989) is the youngest of former South African president Jacob Zuma's four daughters with ex-wife Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma. She was the chief of staff to Minister Siyabonga Cwele in the Department of Telecommunication ...

, she co-produced and acted in Mzansi Magic's ''It’s for Life'', a 2011

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

about four 20-somethings who find a squatter in their house. Their father promoted the series through his official presidential

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

account, for which he received criticism.

''Uzalo''

Zuma-Ncube also co-owns Stained Glass Productions with Kobedi "Pepsi" Pokane, through which they co-produced ''

Uzalo ''Uzalo'' is a South African soap opera produced by Stained Glass Productions, which is co-owned by Kobedi "Pepsi" Pokane and Gugu Zuma-Ncube. It began airing in 2015, quickly becoming a hit due to its compelling narrative, writing, direction an ...

'' for the

SABC1 SABC 1 is a South African public television network operated by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) which carries programming in English and Nguni languages, Nguni. It was created in 1996, after the SABC restructured its television ...

channel. It aired five days per week, Monday to Friday, and was the second-most popular television show in South Africa, behind Mzansi Magic's Isibaya telenovella, with which it was intended to compete. In 2015 and 2016, various national newspapers alleged that Zuma-Ncube benefitted unduly from

nepotism Nepotism is an advantage, privilege, or position that is granted to relatives and friends in an occupation or field. These fields may include but are not limited to, business, politics, academia, entertainment, sports, fitness, religion, an ...

through contracts of R167 million from the SABC and R8 million from the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality for ''Uzalo''. The first season of ''Uzalo'', which aired in 2015, cost R50 million, and was filmed and produced in

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN and known as "the garden province") is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu) and Natal Province were merged. It is locate ...

, where it received R8 million from the ANC-led local municipal government. The Democratic Alliance accused the local municipality of patronage for funding the private production, noting that there would be no government oversight of the spending and that the money could have helped less established entertainment businesses instead. The TV series was caught in controversy when then- SABC CEO

Hlaudi Motsoeneng Hlaudi Motsoeneng is the leader of African Content Movement (ACM) who served as the acting (law), acting Chief operating officer of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) from 2011 to 2013. Motsoeneng was removed from his position as C ...

intervened in a decision not to renew the series, deciding instead to commission another three seasons for around R167 million, an amount with which "the SABC could produce about 20 programmes". Stained Glass Productions were accused of political interference with the procurement processes of the SABC, which the co-producers denied, claiming that they "did everything by the book" and that they received no "special treatment".

Politics

In 2011, she volunteered at

Luthuli House Chief Albert Luthuli House in Johannesburg, more simply known as Luthuli House, is the headquarters of the African National Congress (ANC) and other subsidiary organizations. The name "Luthuli House" is frequently used as a metonym Metonymy () ...

, the ANC's headquarters, with her sister Thuthukile.

Personal life

Gugulethu Zuma-Ncube, daughter of former South African President Jacob Zuma with politician ANC former wife Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, is married to mathematician Wesley Ncube, son of Zimbabwean politician Prof Welshman Ncube. They were married on their wedding day on 20 December 2008 in Pretoria, South Africa.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zuma-Ncube, Gugulethu Living people 1985 births People from Johannesburg South African television actresses South African television producers Jacob Zuma Women television producers Daughters of national leaders