Top 10 Outstanding Facts about Leleti Khumalo

Leleti Khumalo, wikimedia commons

Top 10 Outstanding Facts about Leleti Khumalo

Leleti Khumalo was born in Kwa Mashu Township on 30^th March 1970, the North of Durban, South Africa. She spent her childhood where she was born and even at that age she always stood out as a very talented child. She is globally renowned for her role in the movies Sarafina, Hotel Rwanda, Invictus, and Yesterday.

Khumalo is also a radio show host and an accomplished musician thanks to the different acting roles she participated in. While she was still studying, Leleti expressed her talent by becoming a member of a youth backyard dance group called Amajika where she met Tu Nokwe, who became her mentor.

At the moment, she married to businessman Skhutazo Winston Khanyile and she gave birth to their twins Ulwenzile and Yamukelani Khanyile. Together with Whoopi Goldberg, Khumalo starred in Darrell James Roodt’s film version of Sarafina, the biggest film production to be released in the African continent. Here are top 10 outstanding facts about Leleti Khumalo.

1.She left her home in Durban at the age of 16

When Leleti Khumalo was growing up, she initially wanted to be a social worker and not an actress, the acting she did was only a hobby. There was a time in her youth when she and her siblings were raised by their older brother as her father wasn’t around and her mother had to leave for months on end to go work.

Consequently, she left for her home at the age of 16 and headed to Johannesburg. Among the reasons she left home was because of her absent father and her desire to pursue a career in Johannesburg.

2.She was first spotted by a famous musician and actor

While she was still studying, Leleti expressed her talent by becoming a member of a youth backyard dance group called Amajika. She was spotted by a South African musician, actor, and playwright Mbogena Ngema who was scouting for new talent for a musical he was developing.

At the age of 15, Khumalo managed to catch the attention of the actor when he came to the garage in which her youth group was rehearsing to look for performers. Ngema simply asked Leleti if she wanted to do a play and she agreed. In 1985 she auditioned for the Mbongeni Ngema musical which was to become the international blockbuster Sarafina.

Ngema wrote the lead character of Sarafina for Khumalo and ever since her career grew tremendously. The two later got married but they divorced and is currently married to businessman Skhutazo Winston Khanyile. She later gave birth to their twins Ulwenzile and Yamukelani Khanyile.

3.Khumalo performed the role of Sarafina

Sarafina poster, photo by IMP Awards. Wikimedia commons

In 1985, Leleti auditioned for the Mbongeni Ngema musical which was to become the international blockbuster, Sarafina, a production based on the Soweto uprising of June 16, 1976. Ngema wrote the lead character of Sarafina for Khumalo.

Khumalo performed the role of Sarafina on stages in South Africa and on Broadway for a run lasting two years, where she received a 1988 Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in a Musical. Sarafina tells the story of a young school girl who is not afraid to fight for her rights and inspires her peers to protest, especially after her inspirational teacher, Mary Masombuka is murdered.

In 1992, she starred alongside Whoopi Goldberg, Miriam Makeba and John Kani in Darrell James Roodt’s film version of Sarafina. Sarafina was re-released in South Africa on 16 June 2006 to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the youth uprisings in Soweto.

4.She has won and been nominated for many awards

Photo by Robin Edqvist on Unsplash

Khumalo received an NAACP Image Award for Best Stage Actress in 1987. In 1988, she was also nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actress in musical. The show, Sarafina, spent two years on Broadway before embarking on a worldwide tour led her to winning the several awards and gaining global recognition.

Khumalo was nominated for an Image Award together with Angela Bassett, Whoopi Goldberg and Janet Jackson. She also received favorable notice for her performance in the Ngema-directed The Zulu, a 1999 show about the Anglo-Zulu War

5.She featured in the movie Hotel Rwanda and Yesterday

Apart from starring in the notable film of Sarafina, she also featured in the film Hotel Rwanda in 2004. Hotel Rwanda is a historical drama documenting the Rwandan genocide that happened in 1994. In addition, in the same year, she starred in Yesterday, a film about the struggles of a young HIV-positive mother.

Her role in the Yesterday movie received rave reviews at the Toronto International Film Festival and won an award at the Pune International Film Festival. Apart from the said movies also starred in Cry, the Beloved Country of 1995, Faiths Corner 2005, Imbewu, The Seed 2015, Invictus (2009) and Winnie Mandela 2011.

6.Leleti Khumalo has a Skin Condition

Photo by Hanen BOUBAHRI on Unsplash

Leleti is the victim of a rare skin condition vitiligo, especially her hands. She was not born with the skin disease but has had this skin condition for several years. She has learned how to live with it by researching more about it and has made it her in publicizing this skin condition.

7.Leleti Khumalo gave birth to triplets and not twins

Photo by Mustafa Omar on Unsplash

The actress got married to Skhuthazo Winston Khanyile in 2012. She got pregnant and on screening the doctors discovered that she had triplets. She suffered a miscarriage resulting in the loss of one baby. Leleti Khumalo’s twins were born on the 24th of May 2013, and they survived and before the birth of her twins, she had experienced two miscarriages.

8.She was close to giving up her lead role in Sarafina

While the show Sarafina was still in its prime years, Leleti felt a bit overwhelmed at being the lead act for the movie. Due to the overwhelming element, she felt like giving up, luckily she worked with an amazing mentor, Whoopi Goldberg, who encouraged her to keep pushing and to be her best and would constantly refer to Leleti as the star of the show.

9.She got divorced after 14 years of marriage

Leleti’s first marriage was with a South African musician, actor, and playwright Mbongeni Ngema who was scouting for new talent for a musical he was developing. However, that relationship came to an end after 14 years. The relationship, allegedly, was marred with a lot of abuse.

Leleti just woke up one morning and decided to end her marriage to Mbongeni Ngema. From her previous responses, she described her marriage as living a lie that no one saw and called it ‘disgusting’.

10.Leleti Khumalo as an activist

Photo by Gayatri Malhotra on Unsplash

Leleti has joined many movements and has attempted to do so in her personal life and career. She has helped create awareness in partnership with South African production company video vision entertainment. Together they released a gender based violence awareness film.

She is also the brand ambassador of Sunlight because she cares about the environment and its natural resources. Leleti is a talented actress and musician who will always have the attention of the public.

Khumalo also remained very active on the South African stage and received favorable notice for her performance in the Ngema-directed The Zulu, a 1999 show about the Anglo-Zulu War. Many attribute their success to her and to date still look up to her. She is largely respected and admired and seen as an inspiration by the upcoming actors in South Africa and beyond.