The Makhenes’ Nubia Mangezi on carving her own path

By Katlego Molubi

Nubia Mangezi, the eldest daughter of actor and musician Letoya Makhene, is the fresh-faced reality TV star to watch thanks to Sunday night’s The Makhenes.

Sowetan gets to know the 20-year-old starlet.

How has the experience of being on a reality show been?

Life has pretty much continued as normal, but it is strange having people feel like they know my life and openly share their opinions about it. There has always been speculation, even before the show, but now that viewers have more insight, people feel more comfortable commenting on it.

Viewers have praised your communication skills. Where does such maturity come from?

I do believe it requires practice and patience, both of which I’m still learning daily. Lord knows I’ve had my fair share of fails before getting to this point, and even now I still have more to learn. Plainly put, I do believe self-awareness is the constant understanding that we are flawed humans who are bound to make mistakes and bound to grow and change. We just need to be willing enough to acknowledge our flaws and want to do better.

What are some of the unexpected parts of being on television?

I don’t think I personally expected the older viewers of the show to genuinely appreciate the honesty I express towards my mom during high-tension conversations. I expected a lot more viewers, more particularly the older viewers, to view me as “disrespectful” regardless of my intentions, simply because we were taught, especially as black kids, that your opinion does not matter.

How do you navigate building your own identity outside your family’s legacy?

I’ve never found it hard to build my own identity beyond my family and their name, maybe because I’ve never seen myself as just an extension of my family, but as my own being, writing my own story, building my own opinions, views and interests and moulding my life into what I want it to look like. I don’t think that has been hard because I don’t believe I’m known to the point where people see me and just see my mom, so I often have the capacity to make a name for myself in any space I find myself.

Whether it be styling or featuring in Mxchael Blue’s music video, or modelling for Soré Selésu and Salthiel, I’ve always had the capacity to take up space and not be compared to or expected to do anything like my family.

Do you find it easy to make genuine friendships or trust being in the public eye?

I don’t struggle with trust and I’ve never struggled with having disingenuous relationships, and for that I’ve always thanked God because, regardless of what was happening around me, the people I chose to have in my corner were always the realest. But to have the realest people around you, you cannot give your trust to everyone.

How do you protect your peace while dealing with public opinion?

My brother and I read comments and laugh at them from time to time because they are funny. Beyond that, I don’t go out of my way to engage with social media content surrounding the show and I’ve never struggled with not listening to people’s opinions.

What have you learnt about yourself through this experience?

I’ve learnt how much more I appreciate my privacy and how much I can change within such little time. It’s only been a few months since we filmed the season, but I feel somewhat different from the person I observe, not because I don’t share those feelings, but simply because I’ve outgrown them.