Famous Zimbabwean Celebrities Who Are Thriving In South Africa

In Africa, South Africa would rank among the top five powerhouses in the entertainment industry. South Africa has bred some incredible talent in all areas around the world, and some history-changers have risen from the African country – the likes of Nelson Mandela.

Stars like Sha Sha, and Nadia Nakai unashamedly made Zimbabwe very proud and brought out talents, zeal, and heart into the South African entertainment industry, many having overcome the odds to establish a name for themselves in the world of fame. These celebs have Zimbabwean roots and are proud to admit it!

Nadia Nakai

Nadia Nakai is an award-winning hip-hop artist from South Africa. She changed her surname from Dlamini and adopted her Zimbabwean mother, Kandava. However, she has been regarded as a half-cast. Nakai’s mother is Zimbabwean whilst her father is South African. In recent years she has always made it clear that she was of Zimbabwean origin and was not even shy about it. SA Hip Hop’s reckoning force considers Zimbabwe part of her identity.

Kim Jayde

Jayde was born in 1990 in Kimberly Robinson, Harare, Zimbabwe. She, however, grew up in the second largest city of Zimbabwe Bulawayo. She became interested in modeling in her second year when she was studying at the University of Stellenbosch of which she took up that interest and has not looked back since.

Early this year Kim Jayde joined 3 other celebrities in South Africa for Revlon’s Campaign ‘Live Boldly’ in 2018. The campaign celebrates feminine power, optimism, strength, and a sense of style.
Jayde was recently spotted in the US at the MTV VMAs event flying high on both the South African and Zimbabwean flags. She has done very well over the years and we wish her well.

Sha Sha

She has been making all sorts of headlines of late. She has been duped as the Queen of Amapiano. Sha Sha’s real name is Charmaine Mapimbiro, she was born in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe’s second-largest city, and grew up in Mutare.

“I was born in Bulawayo and stayed there for a bit. We then moved to Mutare then Harare but most of my years were in Mutare because my dad is from Mutare,” Sha Sha mentions in a podcast interview with Mac G.

Podcast with Mac G.

In June 2020 Sha Sha became the first Zimbabwean to win a BET Award. However, she was nominated for and won the BET Award 2020 – Viewer’s Choice: Best New International Act award. Sha Sha’s recognition on the international stage triggered her identity as many fans weren’t aware that she was from neighboring Zimbabwe.

Oskido

Oskido is a House and Kwaito legend who grew up in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. The Kalawa Jazmee Records DJ is a reckoning force in the South African entertainment industry. He is born to a Zimbabwean father, Esaph Mdlongwa, who was a politician, and a South African mother, Emily Sophia Molifi.

Although he was born in Brits, South Africa, he spent the better half of his adult life in Zimbabwe before returning to South Africa after High school. Oskido co-founded Kalawa Jazmee Records which is home to Mafikizolo, DJ Zinhle, and more. His talent has been appreciated not only in South Africa but internationally through a number of international awards and endorsement deals.

Chiedza Mhende

Chiedza Mhende is a voice-over artist, singer, and actor who has carved a niche for herself in the entertainment industry of South Africa. Well known as Chi Mhende, she played Wandile on Generations The Legacy where she is now part of the soapie’s production team.

Chi Mhende was born in Harare, Zimbabwe in 1991. She moved to Cape Town, South Africa in 2006 to study at the African Film and Drama and Arts (AFDA) School of Motion Picture Medium and Live Performance. She was introduced to Cape Town’s theatre world as Lady Capulet in the Artscape production of Romeo and Juliet in 2010.

She has played Sandile in the Cape Town film Love the One You Love, which debuted at the Durban International Film Festival in 2014. Chi has credits in Sello Duiker’s The Quiet Violence of Dreams, JM Coetzee’s Waiting for the Barbarians, and was cast as Titania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Mhende is an Africa Movie Academy Awards nominee. She is the voice behind ‘Siyaya’ and Al Jazeera’s global health series ‘Lifelines’. The star actress worked with theater productions such as The Bonfire Improv Theatre Company and the Zakheni Arts Therapy Foundation. Her rise to fame came with her role in Generations where she plays a man.