Joe "Sdumo" Mafela (25 June 1942 â€" 18 March 2017) was a South
African actor, writer, producer, director, singer, and
businessman.Mafela was born in Sibasa, Transvaal, South Africa, and
brought up in Kliptown and White City Jabavu, in Soweto, near
Johannesburg, and then his family remained until 1990 in the Tshiawelo
Township that had been set aside for Venda people under Apartheid. He
began acting in movies at the age of twenty-two. He played the role of
an editor in the movie, Real News. He joined the South African film
company SA Films, and over the following 20 years he worked as a
producer and director as well as a film actor. He also managed the
multi-ethnic dance troupes Mzumba, Sangoma, and the Gold Reef Dancers,
which performed in feature films, theaters, and hotels and appeared on
four continents. In 1974 Mafela co-starred in the first all-black
movie made in South Africa, as Peter Pleasure in Udeliwe. He worked
with director Peter R. Hunt (famed for the James Bond movie On Her
Majesty's Secret Service) in the 1976 film Shout at the Devil.With the
advent of television in South Africa in 1976, Mafela worked almost
continuously in that medium. In 1986 he was cast as the unemployed
lodger S'dumo in the Zulu language comedy series 'Sgudi 'Snaysi. The
success of 'Sgudi 'Snaysi ("Is Good, Is Nice") â€" which ran to 78
episodes on SABC â€" led to roles in other series, often produced by
Mafela's own production company Penguin Films. It also encouraged
Mafela to enter the advertising industry, working as Creative Director
of Black Communications at BBDO South Africa and, since 1992, as a
director of Sharrer Advertising in Johannesburg.
African actor, writer, producer, director, singer, and
businessman.Mafela was born in Sibasa, Transvaal, South Africa, and
brought up in Kliptown and White City Jabavu, in Soweto, near
Johannesburg, and then his family remained until 1990 in the Tshiawelo
Township that had been set aside for Venda people under Apartheid. He
began acting in movies at the age of twenty-two. He played the role of
an editor in the movie, Real News. He joined the South African film
company SA Films, and over the following 20 years he worked as a
producer and director as well as a film actor. He also managed the
multi-ethnic dance troupes Mzumba, Sangoma, and the Gold Reef Dancers,
which performed in feature films, theaters, and hotels and appeared on
four continents. In 1974 Mafela co-starred in the first all-black
movie made in South Africa, as Peter Pleasure in Udeliwe. He worked
with director Peter R. Hunt (famed for the James Bond movie On Her
Majesty's Secret Service) in the 1976 film Shout at the Devil.With the
advent of television in South Africa in 1976, Mafela worked almost
continuously in that medium. In 1986 he was cast as the unemployed
lodger S'dumo in the Zulu language comedy series 'Sgudi 'Snaysi. The
success of 'Sgudi 'Snaysi ("Is Good, Is Nice") â€" which ran to 78
episodes on SABC â€" led to roles in other series, often produced by
Mafela's own production company Penguin Films. It also encouraged
Mafela to enter the advertising industry, working as Creative Director
of Black Communications at BBDO South Africa and, since 1992, as a
director of Sharrer Advertising in Johannesburg.
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