Fumani N Shilubana (born 22 March 1980), is a South African actor,

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''Di ...

and

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

. He is best known for his roles in the popular films ''

Zama Zama Zama or Zamá may refer to: Places *Zama City, Alberta, Canada *Zama Lake, Alberta, Canada *Zama, Kanagawa, Japan **Camp Zama, a United States Army base in Kanagawa, Japan *Tulum or Zamá, Mexico *Zama (Tunisia) *Zama (Turkey) *Zama, Mississippi, ...

'', '' My Father's War'' and '' Kalushi: The Story of Solomon Mahlangu''. His the founder of FatherFigureZA, a Foundation that seeks to integrate man back into the family unit and former Chairman of Midrand Heat Basketball Club. In 2022 May 6 with Yerhu Film Commission they launched Yerhu News a Xitsonga News bulletin that plays on YouTube every Friday at 19:00.

Early life

He was born on 22 March 1980 in small village Shiluvana,

Tzaneen Tzaneen () is a large tropical garden town situated in the Mopani District Municipality of the Limpopo province in South Africa. It is situated in a high rainfall fertile region with tropical and subtropical agriculture taking place in a region. ...

Limpopo Limpopo is the northernmost province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The capital and largest city in the province is Polokwane, while the provincial legislature is ...

, South Africa. His father Clifford Shilubana was a school head master at Mlungisi Primary School and mother Nsatimuni Mundhlovu who is a Mozambican/ South African was a nurse at Shiluvana Hospital. He has two younger sisters: Labani Mgimeti and Kumani Shilubana and an older brother Tebogo Maake.

Personal life

He is a father of one son, Vulani. Shilubana matriculated in 1998 at Mathews Phosa College in

Mpumalanga Mpumalanga () is a province of South Africa. The name means "East", or literally "The Place Where the Sun Rises" in the Swazi, Xhosa, Ndebele and Zulu languages. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, bordering Eswatini and Mozambique. It ...

, he enrolled at the

University of Venda The University of Venda (Univen; ve, Yunivesithi ya Venḓa, af, Universiteit van Venda) is a South Africa, South African comprehensive rural-based institution, located in Thohoyandou in Limpopo, Limpopo province. It was established in 1982 u ...

in 1999 to study Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Agriculture which he didn't complete and in 2000 he enrolled for

Industrial Engineering Industrial engineering is an engineering profession that is concerned with the optimization of complex process (engineering), processes, systems, or organizations by developing, improving and implementing integrated systems of people, money, kno ...

Tshwane University of Technology Tshwane University of Technology (TUT; af, Tshwane-Universiteit vir Tegnologie) is a higher education institution in South Africa that came into being through a merger of three technikons — Technikon Northern Gauteng, Technikon North-West and ...

which he also dropped out when he wanted to pursue modelling in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, he also didn't go after enrolling for Speech and Drama Program at the

South African State Theatre The State Theatre in Pretoria, South Africa is the largest theatre complex in Africa. It was known until 1999 as the Pretoria State Theatre. History The theatre was built on the old Market Square in Pretoria for use by TRUK (Transvaal Perfo ...

under the mentorship of the Play writer and Director Mpumelelo Paul Grootboom. He started playing Basketball at age 15, he learnt about the game after his mother bought him a Basketball rule book, at 19 years he attended Basketball Trials at the

University of Limpopo The University of Limpopo is a university in the Limpopo Province, South Africa. It was formed on 1 January 2005, by the merger of the University of the North and the Medical University of South Africa (MEDUNSA). These previous institutions for ...

and was selected to represent Limpopo Province for the men senior team for the SASSU games at the annual tournament in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

Career

He is well-known for his role as the producer and actor in the telenovela '' Giyani: Land of Blood''. In the series, he played the role 'Vukosi Moyo'. After the conclusion of the series, he made the appearance in the series ''Mafanato'' which he Produced and Directed. He has also acted in the popular television series: ''Soul City'', ''Generations'' and ''Isidingo''. He generally speaks in

Xitsonga Tsonga () or Xitsonga ( ''Xitsonga'') as an endonym, is a Bantu language spoken by the Tsonga people of southern Africa. It is mutually intelligible with Tswa and Ronga and the name "Tsonga" is often used as a cover term for all three, als ...

on television, which is his mother tongue. He played the popular role 'Detective Dabula' on the SABC3 soapie ''Isidingo''. Shilubana made his directorial debut with Khomelela, a film he created and co-wrote also produced. This project was part of his mission to get Xitsonga films on the main stream. He raised R40 000 for the film and shot 95% of the film at Hlovani River Lodge and the rest at

Nkowankowa Nkowankowa is a township in the Greater Tzaneen Local Municipality of the Mopani District Municipality in the Limpopo province of South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmo ...

Township. The film was screened at Nkowankowa Community Hall. Shitshembiso Mabasa, Fumani N. Shilubana, together with Teleti Khosa own Xiculu Multimedia a 100% black owned media company that was established in December 2019. The primary function of Xiculu is the production and distribution of Xitsonga content and has produced Mafanato series on

Showmax Showmax is an online subscription video on demand (SVOD) service which launched in South Africa on 19 August 2015. Showmax uses a localisation strategy to take on established video on demand competitors with a focus on local content and partner ...

, BeingTsongaInSA doccie series podcast about the shared experience of Vatsonga in the Republic of South Africa, Minkoka Mimbirhi series, A day with a Tsonga Legend talk show, Nyambondzwani short film, Sivara series and COVID-19 Xitsonga dashboard in collaboration with Xitsonga.org all in 2020. He is currently working on a few projects, some are in post like Timbita Ta Levuxeni:JUSTICIA and notable work that is still in development which he created and wrote is Brickfiledz: 12 Extensions based on a fictional world where politics, racism and classism rules. He is developing it with Tuks Tad Lungu and Mawingu.

Awards and nominations

Shilubana was nominated in 2005 for the

Naledi Theatre Awards The Naledi Theatre Awards are annual South African national theatre awards held in Gauteng launched in 2004 by Dawn Lindberg Dawn Lindberg (14 April 1945 – 7 December 2020) was a South African folk singer, actress, theatre producer, dire ...

for Best Supporting Role on Relativity "Township Stories". The glittering star-studded ceremony took place at the University of Johannesburg Arts Centre on Sunday 19 February 2006. He was nominated for his first screen acting award for Best Actor for Love Specialist at the F.A.M.E Awards 2016.

Stage

Filmography

Film Work

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shilubana, Fumani Living people South African television actors South African actors 1980 births South African film actors People from Tzaneen