Malibongwe Mdwaba
Character on MTV Shuga Down South: Kwanele
Malibongwe Mdwaba is an award winning Actor, Voice over artist, Arts manager and Social activist – with over five years of experience in the television, film and entertainment industry. The Khayelitsha-born actor has featured in various roles in seminal television shows starting off as a background actor for three years then moving to score featured, supporting and lead roles. These include; Ubudoda, Romeo & Romeo, Isithembiso, MTV Shuga, UNina, UManyano, UMama, BET’s Isono, Netflix’s Justice Served and Disney+ Hotstar’s Lootere.
To add to his endless accomplishments, Malibongwe Mdwaba is the founder of Indibano – The Encounter which is a community organisation that aims to bridge the gap between emerging creatives and industry professionals in South Africa. Mdwaba has seen a gap in the South African Arts industry and decided to launch this platform in September 2018.
Samke Makhoba
Character on MTV Shuga Down South: Khensani
Samke Makhoba is a South African filmmaker and actress who studied Film and Television Production (with honours) in Johannesburg, South Africa at the University of Witwatersrand. During her academic career, she was discovered by ‘MTV Shuga’ at the 2016 open auditions where she landed her first lead role as Khensani on ‘Shuga Down South’. Soon after Shuga DS, she landed more lead roles on shows such as SABC’s ‘Rented Family’, and Showmax’s hit medical drama 'Wounds’. She also starred in films including Mzansi Magic’s ‘Isibonakaliso’, Netflix’s ‘Collision’ and eVod’s ‘Surviving Gaza’. Her list also goes on with a number of commercials which include DSTV, Mens Clinic, Budget Insurance, Wimpy and iStore. Samke has also dabbled in Voice over acting for ‘MTV Shuga’ as well as SABC programs.
Samke is currently a primary actor on a SAFTA award winning telenovela, ‘The Estate’ on SABC 3. She was also recently announced as a two time nominee at the 2022 Africa Movie Academy Awards for her role as Thandeka in a hit film called ‘Surviving Gaza’. She has been nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting role in a film, as well as Best Young/Promising Actor.
As a filmmaker, Samke hopes to take official steps into writing and directing
