Masasa Lindiwe Mbangeni is a South African actress. She is best known for her role as ''Thembeka Shezi'' in the popular television serial '' Scandal!''.

Early life and education

Masasa Lindiwe Mbangeni was born on in

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha ( , ), formerly named Port Elizabeth, and colloquially referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipal ...

, South Africa. She received the

Mandela Rhodes Scholarship The Mandela Rhodes Scholarship is a prestigious scholarship which provides funding for up to two years of postgraduate study at a South African university. It is awarded by the Mandela Rhodes Foundation. Recipients of the scholarship are referred ...

to study at the

University of Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), commonly known as Wits University or Wits, is a multi-campus public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg, South Africa. The university has its roots in ...

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 ...

, where she graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in dramatic arts, specialising in performance and directing.

Career

Mbangeni made guest appearances on two television series: as Eunice on the

BBC Television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1 January 1927. It p ...

crime drama ''

Silent Witness ''Silent Witness'' is a British crime drama television series produced by the BBC that focuses on a team of forensic pathology experts and their investigations into various crimes. The series was created by Nigel McCrery, a former murder squa ...

'' and as Jackie's personal assistant on the

M-Net M-Net (an abbreviation of Electronic Media Network) is a South African pay television channel established by Naspers in 1986. The channel broadcasts both local and international programming, including general entertainment, children's series, ...

soapie, '' Egoli''. She also performed in stage plays at the Johannesburg's Market Theatre: ''Nogogo'', ''Sundjata'', and ''Amen Corner'', directed by James Ngcobo. She also toured Grahamstown Festival of the Arts with the play ''Oedipus @ Koonu''. In 2013, she joined the cast of popular television serial '' Scandal!'' and played the role of Thembeka Shezi. The role became highly popular, but she left the series in 2016. After ''Scandal!'', she appeared in the season two of thriller television series ''Thola'', telecast on

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 ...

. Then she played the role of Celia in the series ''Harvest''. She later returned to the series and then the character was shot dead, making her second exit from the show. In 2011, she played in the American

feature film A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film (Film, motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole present ...

Machine Gun Preacher ''Machine Gun Preacher'' is a 2011 American biographical action drama film directed by Marc Forster and starring Gerard Butler, Michelle Monaghan, and Michael Shannon. It tells the story of Sam Childers, a former gang biker turned preacher, ...

''. In 2023, she appears in the role of as Mbali Kaleni in the five-part crime thriller series '' Devil's Peak'', based on

Deon Meyer Deon Godfrey Meyer is a South African thriller novelist, writing primarily in Afrikaans. His works have been translated into 28 languages. He has also written numerous scripts for television and film. Early life and education Deon Meyer was ...

's novel of the same name.

Other activities

Mbangeni took part in the

Marie Claire ''Marie Claire'' (stylized in all lowercase; ) is a French international monthly magazine first published in France in 1937. Since then various editions are published in many countries and languages. The feature editions focus on women aro ...

"Naked" campaign in 2015 to raise public awareness about sexual violence against women and children.

Recognition and awards

Mbangeni received two nominations for Best Actress in a TV Soap from the

South African Film and Television Awards The South African Film and Television Awards (sometimes referred to as the Golden Horns; often simply called the SAFTAs) is an annual South African awards ceremony hosted by the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), to honour creative exce ...

(SAFTA) in 2014 and 2015 for her role in ''Scandal!''. In 2017, she received a nomination for Best Actress in the inaugural DStv Mzansi Magic Viewers' Choice Award.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mbangeni, Masasa Living people Actors from Gqeberha South African television actresses South African film actresses Year of birth missing (living people)