Daphney Hlomuka

Who was Daphney Hlomuka?

Daphney Hlomuka was a South African television, film, radio and stage actress. On the small screen, Hlomuka was perhaps best known to audiences for her role as MaMhlongo in the television drama series, Hlala Kwabafileyo, and as Sis May in the comedy, S’gudi S’naysi, opposite Joe Mafela.

Hlomuka was born in Durban, South Africa, but raised in KwaMashu during the Apartheid era. She began acting in the theater in Durban in 1968, and was considered to be a protege of the Durban-based playwright, Welcome Msomi. Her earliest theater credits included performances in two of Msomi's theatrical productions: Qombeni and Umabatha, which was a Zulu adaptation of William Shakespeare's Macbeth. Umabatha became one of Msomu's most famous works. Hlomuka worked in Zulu-language radio plays in the interim between Qombeni and Umabatha.

She left South Africa briefly during the 1970s to tour with the cast of Ipi Tombi in Europe. During the 1960s and 1970s, roles on screen or stage for black actors in South Africa were often difficult to find due to Apartheid. Hlomuka often appeared off-screen as a radio actor in several popular Zulu drama series.