Simon Sabela

Simon Sabela (1932-1993). Actor, dancer, director and choreographer.

Contribution to SA theatre, film, media and/or performance

Performed in Gold, Shout at the Devil, Black Cat, Ngwanaka and Tigers Don't Cry. Directed U-Deliwe, Inkedama, Black Cat, Ngwanaka, The Boxer and The Eagle.

Born in **, he started acting for ***. He then went on to become a well known film actor in locally produced international films such as Zulu (19*), Sanders of the River (19*), Gold (1974), Game for Vultures (1978), Shout at the Devil (19*), I'Lollipop (19*) and he played the Zulu King Cetshwayo in Zulu Dawn (19*). Was the first (*?) to direct a black feature film (U'Deliwe, 19*) in South Africa. His TV credits include **??.

Natal Witness, 7 July 2008: Sabela was both an actor and directpr. From the early sixties he , was seen in several international feature films such as as Diamonds are Dangerous (1961) and Death Dnuns Along the River (1963). a version of Edgar Wallace's Sanders of ' the River in which he played the role : of Bosambo that had been taken by Paul Robeson in the 1935 version. , Sabela then played in Zulu (1964)

and later its -follow up, Zulu Dawn (1979), in which he featured in the central role of King Cetshwayo kaMpande. His other credits included Gold (1974), e'Lollipop (1976) and Shout at the Devil (1976). He also starred in the television series Shaka Zulu and John Ross - An African Adventure. ., As a director, Sabela worked for HeYI?s Films, one of the key studios making films for black audiences. ' Sabela was apparently unaware that the studio was receiving government funding from the Department of Information to make films· reflecting and endorsing apartheid. Sabela first directed uDeliwe . (1975) for Heyns Films, a production house that made a further 13 films for black audiences before its exposure in the Info Scandal of the late seventies as one of the Department of ~ormation's front companies. uDelzwe was based on a radio soap and Sabela also took the male lead ' I , in the film version, which tells the i story of a young Zulu woman who I i goes to Johannesburg, regrets it and o finally returns home. o After uDeliwe, Sabela directed ' Inkedama (1975) about a young man's struggle to make a success of his life. In 1976, he directed iKati Elimnyana (literally: the black cat, but also colloquially: a very dark i person), in which he plays the main I character, Lefty Ndaba, a businessman whose shady deals finally catch up with him. . In his later career, Sabela appe~red in what Maingard describes as "the most significant an.ti-apartheid fiction film to emerge prior to the elections in 1994", Mapantsula (1988). This story of a small-time gangster forced to face the political realities , of the day, "made a special impact , because it expressed the social reali: ties of the South African context in a : way that fiction fibn nad not done before". Sabel<t died in 1994.

Sources

SACD 1977/78.

Tribute written by M. Mthethwa, published in Pace, 21(2). 1 June 1993.

Daily News, 15 June 2016.

Pays tribute to Simon Sabela who, as a veteran of more than 50 movies, cherished two dreams: he wanted to watch the filming of 'The unfortunate woman' for which he'd provided the script, and he wanted to witness the fund-raising concert for Dorkay House. On the day of the concert, however, his friends and fellow actors gathered to pay tribute to his memory

IMDb [1].

Awards, etc.

Simon "Mabhunu" Sabela 'Film and Television Awards [https://www.newspages.co.za/tag/simon-sabela-awards ] in honour of the late screen ;legend Sabela. ' "Not only was he South Af'rice's first black film director, but he also had a long and successful career which saw him feature in over 34 films, both nationally and internationally"

Mbongeni Ngema: Mabhunu Sabela was my mentor, he helped and encouraged me a great deal during the beginning of my career."

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