The year is 1993, South Africa isn’t yet a democratic country, but there’s a common understanding that Nelson Mandela will be the country’s first Black President.
There is unprecedented excitement in the air. For the first time in their lives, Black South Africans can dream of a future better than most thought possible. It was against this backdrop that visionary screenwriter and producer Mfundi Vundla founded the Black-owned television production house, Morula Pictures.
And on a Monday evening in August 1993, an icon was born: Generations. The plot, the settings, the story and the characters had never been seen on South African television before. Wealthy Black South Africans had never been seen on television before. It was a far cry from the stereotypical caricature portrayals of Black life at the time.
On Generations, the Black characters were the bosses; they were successful, looked good, spoke good English and were fabulous! And so began a new South African Mzansi family tradition. Every weekday at 8pm was “Generations time”. It was to become South Africa’s longest-running soap, giving us memorable moments on screen, and exceptional talent.
Fast forward 10 years, and in 2003, Bawinile Ntshaba, a young graduate of the then University of Natal, walks onto the set of Generations at the SABC in Auckland Park with dreams of her own. Inspired by the boom in aspirational content across the spectrum, she’s just bagged the role of Khethiwe Buthelezi, a young, naïve girl from KwaZulu-Natal. And so began our longstanding love affair with “Khethiwe”, the character she played for over 10 years and is best known for.
Winnie moved on to play many roles, both lead and supporting, in groundbreaking local and continental series such as MTV,,,,, and nowe on e.tv. I spent a glorious weekend in the sun with the actress in
