The emergence of Cynthia Shange in 1972 as a radiant model of black beauty in SA was more than a pageant milestone. It was a powerful, affirming moment in a country determined to deny black people their worth.
In a time of Black Power and of pushback against narratives rooted in colonialism and apartheid, Shange helped young black women believe, perhaps for the first time in the public eye, that their colour mattered.
Shange won the Miss Durban title, then the Miss Natal beauty pageant, which qualified her for the parallel Miss Africa South title. She won that crown and went on to Miss World in London as the first black woman to walk the stage from segregated SA.
In other words, the country sent two delegates: Shange, who was black, and Stephanie Reinecke, who was white and wore the sash of Miss South Africa, an honour reserved for white women only.
It wasn’t until 1992 that black women were permitted to enter Miss SA, when Amy Kleinhans won, Augustine Masilela was a runner-up and Johanna Makgalemele was a finalist.
The watershed moment came in 1993 when Jacqui Mofokeng from Soweto snapped the crown at 21 and rewrote the pageant’s history forever. She’d be followed by Basetsana Kumalo in 1994, Peggy-Sue Khumalo in 1996 and Kerishnie Naicker in 1997 and others in the 2000s, including Zozibini Tunzi, who won Miss Universe in 2019 to be the first black South African woman to do so.
So, Shange’s impact and role in telling the story of black SA cannot be muted. Her death, this week, at 76, reminded SA of her significance and of how, as the “It Girl” of the ’70s and ’80s, her influence endured across generations.
She moved with the black high society of the time, from the Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini to actor Joe Mafela, electrifying rooms with her elegance. From the beauty stages, she pivoted to acting, appearing as Noluthando in Inkedama, a film by Simon “Mabhunu” Sabela in 1975.
She further starred in iconic TV dramas such as Udeliwe, where she played the lead and embodied the role so completely that it became her name. More bigger roles in bigger productions would come, such as Mkabi in the Shaka Zulu series, which she reportedly said paid her big bucks.
Later, as an elder entertainment stateswoman, Shange took on the role of Mankosi Buthelezi on SABC2’s Muvhango and became TV’s most beloved supermom to Thandaza, played by Sindi Dlathu.
It was here that her intergenerational appeal shone brightest: a woman who had already spent decades in the public eye, still winning new legions of fans young enough to be her grandchildren. Her star stayed alight for years, until the demise of the soap opera last year.
Born Cynthia Philisiwe Shange on July 27, 1949, to Dick and Ivy Shange in Lamontville, Durban, she was the fourth in a family of six children. Those beginnings in Lamontville shaped the woman SA would come to know: poised, determined and quietly trailblazing.
She attended school in Lamontville before venturing into beauty pageantry, where she would make history.
She was married to the late Derrick Thema, a revered journalist of his time and author of Kortboy: A Sofiatown Legend. Together they built a family and raised four children: Sihle, Ayanda, Nonhle and Benele Thema.
Nonhle followed in her mother’s footsteps, earning the first princess position in Miss Soweto in the early 2000s, later becoming a music TV host on Channel O and a reality star taking on Hollywood – further entrenching her mother in popular culture with appearances in the show.
When she retired from the limelight, Shange relocated to Empangeni, KwaZulu-Natal, choosing a quieter life and the comfort of peace and stillness. She met her untimely death after a long illness, in hospital, in the early hours of Monday April 20.
Tributes reflecting the breadth of the life she lived in public and the private tenderness many knew have been shared. President Cyril Ramaphosa said Shange was “a source of national inspiration and admiration”. Sport, arts and culture minister Gayton McKenzie described her legacy as “one of courage, dignity and unapologetic excellence”.
Shange is remembered by her homegirl, age-mate and fellow actress Thembi Mtshali-Jones for her beauty, grace, and courage under restrictive apartheid laws, a triumph that opened doors of imagination for black women.
Amanda Ngudle, who worked with her on Muvhango, wrote that she seldom spoke as she was reserved and soft-spoken, except once when she regaled them with stories from when she shot the Shaka Zulu series: snakes on the location, and how well they got paid.
Shange was a recipient of two lifetime achievement awards: one from the SA Film and TV Awards (Saftas) and another from the Simon Mabhunu Sabela Film and TV Awards in KwaZulu-Natal.
She is survived by her four children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Lala kahle Dumakude, Mdima, Shange.
