28 May 2007: South Africa’s most popular children’s television programme has found the two new, young stars for the upcoming series of Soul Buddyz.

Soul Buddyz held auditions recently for budding Gauteng based actors for the characters of an 11 – 15 year old black, Sotho speaking boy, as well as an 11 - 15 year old coloured girl who is fluent in both English and Afrikaans.

The winners are Thabo Richard Mlangeni from Albertvilles who will play the character of KG (Kagiso) and Joselynn Fember from Regents Park who will play the character of Zingi. These are prominent roles in the coming Soul Buddyz series to be broadcast on SABC 1 from 1 October at 7.00 p.m.

Thabo is in Grade 5 at IR Griffiths Primary School in Blairgowrie. His favourite subject is Maths and he’s into athletics. Josellyn is in Grade 9 at Rand Girls High in Braamfontein and her favourite subject is Arts and Culture.

According to Zanele Gule, Marketing Manager of Soul Buddyz, “The winners are currently undergoing an acting course that will cover basic acting, dance and television acting techniques and will get lead roles in the next series of Soul Buddyz.”

The Search for a Young Star initiative was developed to unearth young acting talent and to help them further develop their skills to become professional actors in the industry.

Soul Buddyz, aimed at empowering 8 to 12 year olds, is a real-life television drama that has consistently been the most watched children’s television programme in the country.

Soul Buddyz is developed by Soul City: the Institute for Health and Development Communication in partnership with SABC Education and BP.

ENDS

For further information or for photos of the winners please contact Onyx Marketing Communications: Georgina Lefifi 082 908 2555 georgina@onyxmarketing.co.za