There are sports stars and entertainers who saw us through the tough times this year. Patience Bambalele, Karabo Ledwaba and Masego Seemela looked at those big names for us.
Sports
Bongiwe Msomi
Msomi, SA national netball team captain, is one of the shining stars in the SA sport that the country can look out for. In spite of the lockdown not allowing normal sports activity, Msomi led the Proteas girls to victory this year as they won the Africa Netball Cup championship after beating Namibia in the final. In the same tournament, 33-year-old Msomi scored a Player of the Tournament award. She has also been named the ambassador for the African region by World Netball (previously International Netball Federation).
Kgothatso Montjane
The wheelchair tennis star is definitely one of the sportswomen who made the country proud this year. Montjane, who hails from Limpopo, won the SA Spring Open and also begged the doubles sections.
She also reached the semifinals of the Australian Open for the first time.
Ntando Mahlangu
As a double paralympic gold medallist, Mahlangu is one of the stars of 2021. The 19-year-old shone at this year’s Tokyo Paralympic Games where he won two golds. He leapt to victory in the long jump T63 final and set a new world record of 7.17m.
He then added gold under his belt when he won the T61 200m. Mahlangu ended the year on a high note by winning the Sport Personality of The Year and Disabled Sportsman of the Year awards at the Gauteng Sports Awards.
Tatjana Schoenmaker
On August 2 hundreds of people gathered at OR Tambo International Airport to welcome Tatjana Schoenmaker who was arriving from the Tokyo Olympic Games with gold and silver medals. In her bigger feat, she set the new 200m breaststroke record of 2min18.95sec, breaking the eight-year-old mark of 2min19.11sec by Denmark’s Rikke Møller Pedersen.
Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies
Last month South African sports lovers had another chance to celebrate when Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies made African history by becoming the winners of the first-ever CAF Women's Champions League after beating Ghanaian side Hasaacas Ladies 2-0 in Cairo. They emulated the men’s team that won the Champions League in Cairo against Zamalek under coach Pitso Mosimane in 2016.
Entertainment
Thuso Mbedu
An internationally acclaimed actress, Thuso Mbedu is one of the best SA exports and shining star. Mbedu, who is now based in LA, in the US, landed a lead role in Underground Railroad. She became the first South African to appear in a lead role in an international TV series. Mbedu, who hails from Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu-Natal, was nominated for Outstanding Actress in TV Movie/Ltd Series at the Black Reel TV Awards.
She bagged her first international award for her performance in the The Underground Railroad at the inaugural Hollywood Critic's Association aAwards. She also won the outstanding performance award at the Gotham Awards. Two weeks ago, she won Woman of the Year Award at the GQ Men of year Awards. Mbedu will star alongside Viola Davis in The Woman King, a historical epic directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood.
Shauwn Mkhize
Shauw Mkhize, aka popularly known as MamMkhize was the entertainment of the year for South Africans. Her story is riddled with controversies but she is one of the news makers of the year depending on where you are standing. Whether she danced on the stadium’s stand when her team scores or rewarding players with hard cash money for wining, MaMmkhize brought new trends.
She went from being a bored rich businesswoman who did not know what to do with her money to rubbing shoulders with big boys of soccer. After her team Royal AM failed to be promoted to DStvTV Premiership on technicalities, she fought tooth and nail, exhausting all avenues. When she lost the fight, MaMmkhize splashed a whopping R50m million to buying the PSL status of Bloemfontein Celtics.
Boohle
Vocal powerhouse and the reigning voice of amapiano, Boohle has had a stunning year. The 23-year-old star is the voice behind one of the biggest amapiano songs of the year: Siyathandana with rapper Cassper Nyovest. This song which was created on the fly while visiting Cassper at his house is also the most used song by South Africans on social media site TikTok.
Bonko Khoza
Thirty-year-old Bonko Khoza has had South Africans glued to their screens with his exceptional portrayal of troubled Mqhele Zulu on Showmax's The Wife series. With his signature moustache and a burning cigarette not far from his lips, Khoza is taking fans of the series on an emotional ride where we love and hate the character.
The show is currently a record breaking series for Showmax as it is the most views for a debut show. Khoza has been in the industry for a minute with roles on Roots, the Mauritanian and beautifully broken but we believe that it's this role that has set him up as one to watch.
Lehlogonolo Machaba
In July Lehlogonolo Machaba, 24, from North West, made history when she became the first openly transgender Miss SA Top 30 finalist. However, she did not make the pageant's top 10 which was held in Cape Town in October. The competition has been open to transgender women since 2019.
Makhadzi
We already know that Makhadzi is a star but the singer has continued to make exceptional moves. Her music has continued to cement her as one of SAouth Africa's biggest musicians with the release of songs such as Ghanama and Zwivhuya. She has also recently launched her own brand of sneakers called Khokhova in collaboration with Kicks Sportwear. We cannot wait to see what 2022 has in store for the 25-year-old.
Lloyiso Gijana
Former Idols SA contestant Lloyiso made SA proud when he got signed to New York-based record label Republic Records in September. The company has the likes of Ariana Grande, Drake and Post Malone on its list.
The 22-year-old released the song Seasons and his spectacular performance on DJ Zinhle's song Indlovu shows us just a sprinkle of what this vocal sensation will be releasing in the coming years.
Nomzamo Mbatha
Earlier this year we saw our very own Nomzamo Mbatha rubbing shoulders with Hollywood royalty. This was for breakout international role as Mirembe on the highly acclaimed Coming 2 America — the sequel to the 1988 comedy with Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall. The 30-year-old actor from KwaMashu in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, played the role of a Zamundan woman who is a groomer and own a barbershop. She then falls in-love with the King’s long lost son.
Mbatha’s inclusion in the remake gained her international recognition. Before her movie role, Mbatha was honoured with a Goddess Beauty Award at the Diaspora Dialogue International Women of Power Awards that took place in Los Angeles in 2019. Noted as one of the most hard working celebrities from SA, the former Isibaya star was also appointed as a Goodwill Ambassador of the United National Refugee Agency in January 2019. Since then, Mbatha has contributed towards numerous charitable organisations.
Mbalenhle Mavimbela
Actor Mbalenhle Mavimbela is a rising star of note. The 24-year-old from a small town of Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal, this year took the television industry by storm with her coveted role as MaHlomu Dladla on Showmax’s telenovela The Wife, which is an adaptation of former Sowetan journalist Dudu Busani-Dube’s best-seller Hlomu book series.
Mavimbela was first introduced to the small-screen as Thandazile on the e.tv telenovela Isipho in 2016. However, since then, Mavimbela has starred in a number of productions including Durban Gen, Judas Kiss and Skeem Saam. While she is not new to the acting industry, it was her character as Hlomu — a journalist who falls in love with a taxi driver — that generated great interest from viewers.
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