For Lesego “Coconut Kelz” Tlhabi, 2021 is all about making television moves, and that energy of manifesting her words into reality is paying off.
This week Tlhabi, 32, started her cool new gig as the new presenter on SABC3 TV show Trending SA – graduating from being a social media star.
With Elma Smit and Refiloe Mpakanyane exiting the show, Tlhabi, Mo Flava and LootLove join MaBlerh on season 6’s presenting panel.
“This was something that I specifically asked for, so I feel very excited. I did feel very nervous, but now that we are three episodes in I feel much more relaxed,” Tlhabi says.
“In early January I was on the show as a guest and being interviewed by the previous panel. At the end of the episode I jokingly said, ‘one day I will be back as the host’. Three weeks later it happened.”
I thought acting was going to be the main thing. I never thought of presenting or comedy, I wanted to be an actress. But I also wanted to be in entertainment from a very young age
Tlhabi studied theatre and drama at London’s Brunel University in 2011. Upon her return home she worked behind-the-scene on television shows V-Entertainment and All Access Mzansi.
Tlhabi had always yearned for a career in front of the camera.
“I thought acting was going to be the main thing. I never thought of presenting or comedy, I wanted to be an actress. But I also wanted to be in entertainment from a very young age,” she says.
When acting didn’t come knocking, Tlhabi took matters into her own hands and used the internet to launch herself. She quickly rose to popularity using her alter ego Coconut Kelz – a self-loathing black woman – as her satirical weapon.
But to my surprise, Tlhabi didn’t start developing Kelz to gain viral fame.
“I didn’t post Kelz the first time because I wanted attention. I posted it because I was irritated with the white girls I went to school with who were not saying anything about the racism that was seen in the news,” Tlhabi recalls.
“It was a rant for me and people took to it. After four videos that’s when I thought I could make this into something profitable.”
Born and raised in Sandton, Tlhabi insists that her political views are different from Kelz.
“Kelz thinks that the sun shines out of the DA’s ass, whereas Lesego cannot understand the DA, hates their ideals and abhors the whiteness and privilege that come from the DA,” Tlhabi charges.
“But we are both Sandton girls, had the same upbringings and sometimes I catch myself saying ‘oh gurl, that’s a little Kelz’. We are both politically involved on two different ends of the rainbow nation.”
Tlhabi dreams of being a writer-performer like her role models Issa Rae, Tina Fey and Mindy Kaling. She is interested in collaborating with like-minded content creators like Wendy Gumede, Tyson Ngubeni and Farieda Metsileng on comedy sketches.
She has also booked an undisclosed TV role in an upcoming SABC 1 drama series.
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