Bonnie Mbuli (born 3 March 1979) is a South African actress, businesswoman, and television personality. She was a presenter on the

SABC 3 SABC 3 (stylised as S3) is a South African free-to-air public television network owned by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC). It carries programming in English and, few in other South African languages. It has a number of its own re ...

show ''

Afternoon Express Afternoon Express is a South African advertiser-funded production variety magazine talk show produced by Cardova for SABC 3. Presenters *Palesa Tembe Past presenters * Jeannie D *Bonnie Mbuli *Bonang Matheba *Danilo Acquisto History On 18 ...

''. Since 2020, she has starred in the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

drama series ''

Noughts + Crosses File:2000s decade montage3.png, From top left, clockwise: The World Trade Center on fire and the Statue of Liberty during the 9/11 attacks in 2001; the euro enters into European currency in 2002; a statue of Saddam Hussein being toppled during t ...

''.

Early years

Mbuli was born in

Soweto Soweto () is a township of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for ''South Western Townships''. Formerly a s ...

, South Africa, in 1979. She attended the Dominican Convent School in Belgravia, Johannesburg, and then

Greenside High School Greenside High School is a public co-educational high school in Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa. Greenside High School (Top Public School in Gauteng 2007) is situated in the suburb of Greenside, Gauteng, Greenside. Academics The school als ...

in Greenside, Johannesburg. The eldest of three children, she was discovered at a bus stop on her way home from school by an actor's agent, who cast her in her first television role in the series ''Viva Families'' in 1992, when she was 13 years old.

Career

This was followed with cameo roles in international productions ''Born Free 2'' and ''Cave Girls''. Mbuli went on to present various magazine programs for television including ''Teleschool'', ''Zapmag'', ''Technics Heart of the Beat'' and ''Limits Unlimited''. In 2001, she landed a lead role in the television soap opera ''Backstage'', which was aimed at South African youth. She was later cast in the role of Portia in ''Gazlam''. This was followed by a role in the detective series ''Zero Tolerance''. Mbuli hosted a talk show in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

on SABC 1, '' True-Life'', won a role in the mini-series ''Homecoming'', and appeared in two Canadian television series: ''

Charlie Jade ''Charlie Jade'' is a science fiction television series filmed mainly in Cape Town, South Africa. It stars Jeffrey Pierce in the title role, as a detective from a parallel universe (fiction), parallel universe who finds himself trapped in our univ ...

'', a sci-fi epic; and '' Scouts Safari'', an adventure series set in the African wild. She completed a major role on ''

Home Affairs An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...

'', a thirteen-part series that interlinked the lives of five very different women, for

Penguin Films Penguins ( order Sphenisciformes , family Spheniscidae ) are a group of aquatic flightless birds. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere: only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is found north of the Equator. Highly adap ...

. Mbuli went on to play lead roles in the television series ''

Soul City In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

'' and ''Hillside'' for SABC 1 and SABC 2 . She was then cast in the series '' The Philanthropist'' for NBC (later also on SABC 3). In film, she has played the role of singer Dolly Radebe, in ''Drum'', the lead role in the Danish film ''Blinded Angels''. In 2006, she played Precious Chamusso in ''Catch a Fire''. She played

Zindzi Mandela Zindziswa "Zindzi" Mandela (23 December 196013 July 2020), also known as Zindzi Mandela-Hlongwane, was a South African diplomat and poet, and the daughter of anti-apartheid activists and politicians Nelson Mandela and Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. ...

Clint Eastwood Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western TV series '' Rawhide'', he rose to international fame with his role as the "Man with No Name" in Sergio Leone's "''Doll ...

's film ''

Invictus "Invictus" is a short poem by the Victorian era British poet William Ernest Henley (1849–1903). It was written in 1875 and published in 1888 in his first volume of poems, ''Book of Verses'', in the section ''Life and Death (Echoes)''. Backgr ...

''. She starred in

E.tv e.tv (commonly referred to on-air as e) is the first and only privately owned free-to-air television station in South Africa. It is the fifth terrestrial television channel in the country, following three channels that are operated by the sta ...

's ''Rhythm City'', on Mzansi Magic's drama series ''Rockville'' as Dudu, and on

's crime investigation series ''Traffic''. In 2015, Mbuli starred opposite Sir Kenneth Charles Branagh as policewoman Grace Mthembu in the British series ''Wallander''. Since 2020, she has starred as Jasmine Hadley in the British series ''

''.

Personal life

Mbuli was married to actor and television personality

Sisanda Henna Sisanda Henna (born 18 March 1982) is a producer, director, and actor. His acting career exploded on South African screens in 2003, with the TV series ''Tsha Tsha''. He won the Duku Duku Best Actor award in 2004, and had started working in prod ...

. They had two children together, one of whom was adopted. She adopted her husband's surname. After their divorce, she authored an autobiography.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mbuli, Bonnie Living people People from Soweto South African actresses 1979 births Alumni of Greenside High School