Bio's Of Key Members Of The Cast

Conny Setjeo (plays herself)
Soul City introduces a new actress, one whose real life story will be revealed during episodes in 2005 and 2006. It was after watching an episode of Soul City that she decided to go and check her HIV status in 1999. She was horrified to discover that she was HIV+ having been infected by her ex husband who began an affair after only a few months of marriage. On hearing of her status, with no counseling, she resolved to kill herself but changed her mind and spent three months planning for her death. After this did not transpire she began to pick up the pieces of her life. She watched the last Soul City series and called to ask why actresses were being used instead of real people like herself who are HIV+ and on ARVs who deeply understand the issues. Well now she is starring in the series!

Conny is a talented poet whose work will be showcased in the series as well as on the Soul City Various Artists CD. She has no previous acting experience but has her own business, Setjeo and Associates, which advises business on HIV strategies. She also talks at high schools and church groups.

Sindi Dlathu (Nomfundo)
Starting young, Sindi Dlathu’s win at a national miming competition at age 11, was a sign of things to come. At 14 she was cast as the lead role’s understudy in the stage version of Sarafina, playing to packed houses. In the screen version, she worked alongside Whoopi Goldberg and was commissioned as an assistant choreographer to Michael Peters, the man responsible for many of Michael Jackson’s dance routines. She has sung backing vocals for Billy Ocean and Randy Crawford. Performing with Mary Twala, Abigail Kubheka, and Nomhle Nkonyeni in Duma Ka Ndlovu’s award winning stage play The Game, she went to London with his production of The Ritual. Sindi’s more recent threatre productions include “Madiepetsana” and a FNB Vita Award in 2003 for Best Actress in the “The Suit” locally performed at the Civic Theatre with an international run at an Amsterdam festival. Her television credits include Muvhango, Khululeka, Justice for All and, she has been a member of the Soul City cast since series 3.

Charmaine Kweyama (Zukiswa)
This Avanti Award winning actress (best actress, Yizo Yizo 1) has a long list of television credits and recently made her feature film debut in the internationally acclaimed, Yesterday. Her TV credits include a variety of roles: Bongi in Generations from 1993 to 1995; Sylvia in The Missing Link; Nono in Tsha Tsha and Selena in Molo Fish. Her work in the theatre has taken her to all corners of the country, where she has performed in "Zwelonke" at Cape Town’s Baxter Theatre; in "Drums and Dreams" at the Ashoka in Durban; in "Nkosi the Healing Song" at the State Theatre in Pretoria; in "Why" at the Windybrow, and Umoja at the Market Theatre, Johannesburg. She has traveled as far a field as Botswana where she played in Maitisong. A multi-lingual performer, Charmaine also sings and plays the marimba, optimising these talents to achieve second place, with Phambili Marimba Band, in the Shell Road to Fame Gala Finals.

Mahlubi Kraai (Thabo)
Starting out with a National Diploma in Drama from the Pretoria Technikon in 1997, this actor, dancer, singer, percussionist has acquired an impressive list of theatre credits. These include Boesman and Lena, The Island, Three Penny Opera and Urban Reality. Prior to graduating he featured prominently in Sophia Town and several other productions such as Rough-Tough-Time and Noqawuse. In 2003 he appeared in Isidingo.

Showcasing his percussion, dance and choreography skills, he has performed in Sekunjalo, Perpetual Motion, Joseph and the opening of the Lost City. His corporate endeavours include the National Road Safety tour, and a provincial Voter Education and Registration tour.

Bonginkosi Shibe (Sello)
Bonginkosi Shibe is set to make his television debut in Soul City 7. Completing his early schooling in Diepkloof, his passion for drama surfaced during grade 12 at Leshata High in Orange Farm. To pursue his dreams he attended the Market Theatre Laboratory and took to the stage playing various roles including Donwan Dimaco in The Untitled directed by Mncedisi Shabangu, and Malankane in Spizozo directed by Robert Colman. In another Robert Colman project, Kasielogy, he toured the Grahamstown National Arts Festival with other actors. Bonginkosi also featured as Mteketeke in Inqala Sizinda under the directorship of Coco Merckel, which formed part of the Blue IQ roadshow. He recently returned from Sweden where he took part in a two-week school cultural exchange programme.

Sibulele Gcilitshana (Zandi)
Armed with a National Diploma in Musical Theatre from the Pretoria Technikon in 2002, Sibulele Gcilitshana is set for a dazzling career. Combining all the talents of acting, dancing and singing, she was nominated for an FNB Vita Award for Best New Actress. Sibu has graced the stage in numerous performances including The Stadium, Blow the Whistle, the Bells of Amesfoort and Songs and Tales. She also has experience incorporate theatre and videos as well as educational theatre.

Kedibone Tholo (Refiloe)
Kedi’s passion for music was fine-tuned when she joined Black Image and became their leading vocalist. In 2003 she joined Development Arts at the State Theatre and played the part of the narrator in a stage play called In this Life. She also appeared in Julius Caesar, taking the part of one of the citizens. Her film credits include The Artist where she had a leading role and a short film, Flashes from a Township Life that featured in the Sethengi Festival in 2004.

Rivalani Charles Baloyi (Charles)
Armed with a Diploma in Dramatic Arts from Fuba Academy in 1995, Charles Baloyi soon ditched his sales career with Edgars to put his talents to the test when he presented and produced news and current affairs for Alex FM Community Radio from 1997 to 2000. His first taste of theatre came in 1996 when he took part in We Shall for the Fatherland, at the Grahamstown Arts Festival, which lead to roles in Ways of Dying and Drop of Faith. Avid TV viewers will have seen him on all local channels from the documentary Racial Prejudice, Yizo Yizo 3 and Soul City 5 on SABC to Jozi Streets on E-TV as well as M-Net appearances. In 2004 he performed in Homecoming, an SABC feature film and experienced global exposure in The Trail, an international feature film.

David Dennis (Sol)
David Dennis is one of the most distinguished South African actors having appeared in well over seventy theatre productions in all the major theatres in the country rounding his 22 year career with comedy, drama, theatre-radio as well as television. A highly celebrated actor, David’s honours include a Vita “best actor in leading role” Award for Frank in the physical comedy Frank ‘n Stein and a Gallo Award for his performance as Riff Raff in the first SA production of The Rocky Horror Show. Later he received a Vita for his role as Frank ‘n Furter in the 1988 production. David is well known for the classics, especially Shakespeare and has appeared as the king in King Lear. Best known for his portrayal of Sol in Soul City, other television appearances include Karim Davids (Isidingo), Judge Frederick Davitz (Justice For All) and advertising executive David Botha (It Rained Last Night).

Key Members Of The Production Team
Dumisani Phakathi – Director
Vesko Mrdjen - Executive Producer
Greg Latter – Head Writer
Lusiwe Tugwana - Line Producer

Dumisani Phakathi (Director)
Dumisani Phakathi joined Urban Brew, a Johannesburg based TV Production Company as a trainee director in 1995, swiftly moving into theatre and later television. In 1999 when he was accepted for the M-Net New Directions Competition he followed up with his directorial debut of An Old Wive's Tale, which won several South African television awards. His first documentary, "Rough Ride", previewed at the end of 1999 to international acclaim, charting the evolution and sub-culture of South African minibus taxis. Over the years as both director and producer, Dumisani has worked with major international broadcasters like BBC, ARTE, YLE, SABC, M-NET, TV 2 Denmark and his latest film, premiered at the prestigious IDFA festival in Amsterdam. Dumisani’s accolades for film include the Mannie van Rensburg Award for Excellence, a Best Director Avanti Award, the Standard Bank Young Artist Award for Film and Best Director, Durban International Festival. Among his international awards are Best Director, Montecatini Film Festival, Italy.

Vesko Mrdjen (Executive Producer)
A blend of English, Spanish and Yugoslav, Vesko Mrdjen moved to South Africa in 1993 to escape the war in his Yugoslavian homeland, leaving behind an established career in television. From 1994 to 1996 he produced for Six Street Studios in Cape Town moving to Rapid Blue in Johannesburg in 1997 to take up the position of programming development manager. Here he created several programming concepts for M-Net like Live@Five and the Camel Trophy Challenge. In 1998 he became the executive producer of Newsforce Africa, Johannesburg, a subsidiary of Newsforce UK, the world’s largest satellite and news programming facilitator. Moving to Peo Productions in 1999 he developed, produced and directed Off the Pitch and Africa Talks for SABC3 and SABC Africa respectively. Now with Word of Mouth Productions, he produces for Soul City and Muvhango.

Greg Latter (Scriptwriter)
Greg is a veteran South African film-maker who has plied his trade both locally and overseas. As a writer he has had over sixteen feature films and hundreds of hours of television produced. He is also a well-known actor with over twenty feature film credits to his name, including playing the lead role in “The Stick.” His most recent feature films include Forgiveness, which garnered several local awards including Best Film at the Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland. He also co-wrote Wooden Camera, Max and Mona and Mr Bones all of which achieved high accolades. Greg’s television focus has been Soul City, where he has been head writer for the past seven years.

Lusiwe Lucille Tugwana (Line Producer)
Completing a diploma in Media Studies at RAU University Lusiwe Tugwana began her career as a production assistant on Yo-TV with Urban Brew Studios, moving to Gumba Gumba Films. She directed Inside Info, a youth programme for SABC 1 and worked as an online editor for Pula and Friends, also SABC 1. In 1998 she made the move to radio, becoming a news reporter for Yfm but soon returned to television taking the position of production manager for SABC 3’s InStyle with Saira Essa productions. Her work with children’s programming kicked off in 2001 when she joined Delapse Design & Animation (Pty) Ltd), managing productions for Starmaths on Channel 4 (UK) and for Animated Tales on SABC. In 2003 she redeveloped the Tube brand refining both target audience and programming within the R1,2 million budget, to ensure its viability. In 2004 she joined Word of Mouth Productions becoming a line producer for Mponeng and as of 2005 she is a line producer for Soul City.