Lungelo found joy in Uzalo after a roller-coaster year

Lungelo Mavundla, a talented actress from KZN province, found joy in the Uzalo gig after a challenging year.

Growing up, she had a passion for music and acting, but it was her time spent indoors watching TV that ignited her love for the craft.

In 2020, she pursued her dreams by enrolling in a performing arts course at the Creative Arts College in Durban.

During her studies, she also took part in local telenovelas as a background artist. In 2021, Lungelo made the decision to move to Johannesburg to further her acting career.

However, in 2023, she had to return home abruptly due to her father’s diagnosis of Brain Cancer. Despite the difficult circumstances, she managed to captivate audiences with her portrayal of a social worker in Uzalo .

The role came just three weeks after her father’s passing, leaving her with mixed emotions during those somber moments. She wished her father could have witnessed her success.

Making her parents proud has always been Lungelo’s dream, and she can only hope they are watching from above. She expressed her gratitude to God for the incredible experience she had on Uzalo.

In the show, she played the role of Miss Mazibuko, a social worker who played a crucial part in addressing bullying. The storyline focused on a young girl named Olwethu, who faced relentless bullying and spiritual attacks.

Through her character, Lungelo learned the severity of bullying and its impact on students. She was unaware of the extent of the problem until she delved into the role of Miss Mazibuko.

“Playing a social worker taught me that bullying is a serious problem yes I knew it exists but I didn’t know it was this bad, when I read the statistics of how many students suffer and that some even die because of bullying, it was mind blowing and to think that we are only talking about students imagine if we were focusing on every person who’s a victim of bullying,” said Mavundla.

The statistics she came across shocked her, realizing that many students suffer and even lose their lives due to bullying.

To the students who are been bullied and are contemplating suicide her advise is for them to report them and to also seek professional help instead of allowing bullies to have the upper hand.

“Choose yourself no matter what, don’t let the culprit win, you matter and you come first. if you can’t ignore bullies and you feel like you can’t take it anymore report them, seek help, don’t lose yourself to mean people who are probably mean to you because they are jealous.

Think about it, why would someone spend so much time focusing on you and how to make you sad? Do not hurt yourself because of people like that!,” said Mavundla.

Having been entrusted with such a role by the Uzalo production, Mavundla was very honoured, as bullying is a very sensitive issue and she felt she needed to touch every single person who has been or is a victim of bullying in a healing kind of way.

Even though she played the role just after burying her father, she says it was the highlight of her career.

Shows Mavundla has previously appeared on:

• Diep City on 161 Mzansi magic
• Babazala on 161 Mzansi magic
• Too hot to be Single on SABC1
• uMbali telenovela on e Extra
• Makhe on 161 Mzansi magic 
• Umtshakazi usebharini on 161 Mzansi magic
• Christmas without Gogo on e Extra

She just wrapped up shooting with another big production in Johannesburg, although 2024 has been a rollercoaster ride for her, it has bestowed her with an enormous amount of success and she’s looking forward to what the rest of the year has in store for her.

Her social media platforms:

• Instagram: sobantuthabekhulu 
• Tiktok : sobantuthabekhulu 
• Facebook:Luh ma