Thoko Ntshinga

Thoko Ntshinga (born 1953) is a South African actress, director, translator, community theatre facilitator and arts activist. She is best known for the roles in the television series such as; Egoli: Place of Gold, Interrogation Room and The River.

Personal life Ntshinga was born in 1953 in Langa, Cape Town, South Africa to a musical family.

Career Her acting career started in the 1970s with theatre plays. When she was a single parent with a two-year-old daughter, she made into an audition notice for the Space Theatre. On stage, she performed in the critically acclaimed play Fröken Julie, for which she won a Fleur du Cap Theatre Award. At the Space Theatre, she performed in the plays such as; A Flea in her Ear, Four Twins, The Incredible Vanishing, Lysistrata S.A., Nongogo, Patty Hearst, Rape – A Revue and The Sacrifice of Kreli. Then she joined Barney Simon at the Market Theatre and performed in the plays Cincinnati, Born in the RSA (1985), Panorama (1987/88) and Auditioning Angels.

In 1981, she made her television debut with the series Westgate. Then in 1982, she reprised the role "Westgate receptionist" in Westgate II. In 1983, she made her film debut with the direct-to-video film Farce About Uys. Since then, she appeared in many films such as; Skating on Thin Uys (as "Sophie"), A Place for Weeping (as "Joseph's Widow"), Born in the RSA, Act of Piracy (as "Cynthia") and in A Dry White Season (as "Emily").

In the meantime in 2005, she played the role of "Senior Superintendent Nomsa Dlamba" on the SABC1 drama series Interrogation Room. She reprised the role for the first four seasons of the show until 2008. Apart from acting, she involved in the Inclusive Arts Programme at Artscape in Cape Town. Meanwhile, she founded the skills development project called Our organization, the Thoko Ntshinga Foundation, which has partnered with youth empowerment organizations such as "Africa Jam" and "Bavuse Balele" to uplift the young artists in rural Kirkwood in the Eastern Cape.

As a stage director, she directed the 2015 play revival Born in the RSA. Then in 2017, she produced the play Buzani Ku Bawo for Artscape. In the meantime, she served as the Director of Artscape’s Inclusive Arts Unit.

Filmography

Year Film Role Genre Ref. 1981 Westgate Westgate receptionist TV series 1982 Westgate II Westgate receptionist TV series 1983 Farce About Uys Sophie the Maid Video 1985 Skating on Thin Uys Sophie Film 1986 Place of Weeping Joseph's Widow Film 1986 Born in the RSA Film 1988 Act of Piracy Cynthia Film 1989 A Dry White Season Emily Film 1991 Egoli: Place of Gold Donna Makaula TV series 1994 Ipi Tombi dialogue coach Film 1999 A Reasonable Man Attorney Nicci Ngwenya Film 2005 Interrogation Room Senior Superintendent Nomsa Dlamba TV series 2006 Surviving Katrina Grandma TV movie documentary 2007 Mein Traum von Afrika Abeba TV movie 2007 Anner House Suo. Langa TV movie 2007 Goodbye Bafana dialogue coach Film 2007 The Bird Can't Fly Fair TV series 2009 Firstborn Alina Short film 2012 Dark Tide Zukie TV series 2015 Wallander Miranda Khulu TV series 2016 Cape Town Female Driver TV series 2018 Nkululeko Ma Mabatha TV series 2018 The River Nomhle TV series 2019 Die Spreeus Thulani TV series 2019 Sizohlala Mam Confidence Short film 2020 7de Laan Nothemba TV series 2021 Die Sentrum Funeka Mdwaba TV series 2021 Blood & Water Gogo Bhele TV series