SARAFINA STAR IN NEW HILTON PRODUCTION

Zama Maphumulo is a cashier at Build It Hilton by day, but when she clocks off, she’s a professional singer and actress who has travelled to Paris with Sarafina! and been cast in three local productions.

Maphumulo’s voice has taken her as far as Paris in Mbongeni Ngema’s theatre production Sarafina! in 2018, as well as to the Jo’burg Theatre and the State Theatre in Bloemfontein.

She acted in the 2019 play Justice is Woman, directed by Paul Spence; featured in Spence’s Christmas Pantomime in December last year, and in March this year, Maphumulo is excited to be going back to her first love, singing, in Spence’s Easter musical comedy.

Maphumulo, who lives and grew up in Sweetwaters, said since she was five, she had known she could sing. “I would sing in church and people would clap,” she recalled.

She attended Siyanda High in Sweetwaters, where one of her teachers, Nomathemba Radebe, became her mentor and encouraged her to pursue her music.

In matric she auditioned at SABC for a role in Ngema’s Bhambata musical, and got the part, however she was told she was too young and was given the opportunity to attend the shows instead to get an idea of the theatre world.

After school, she attended the Mbongeni Ngema Academy for Performance for two years.

She then returned home and got involved in theatre projects within her community and taught music at schools.

By pure chance she got introduced to Paul Spence and the Hilton theatre scene. One day shortly after she returned from Sarafina, her husband, Musa, who also works at Build It Hilton, had helped Spence’s wife in the store.

She mentioned her husband was involved in the arts, and Musa said his wife was also a performer and had just been in a production in Paris.

“Through that encounter I met Paul and I am so grateful to him for believing in me and giving me a chance to act and sing in my home town. It’s such a privilege to be able to perform at home, where my family can come and watch me. A lot of people don’t understand what theatre is, so it’s so great for them to see what I do. I’m also grateful to Paul for letting me have a main role in this play,” Maphumulo said.

She was also thankful to Build It Hilton for being so supportive of her singing career. “Their support has made it possible for me to be a working mother and wife and still pursue my passion,” she said.

She is mom to a 17-month-old daughter.