The South African television drama, Muvhango, continues to add Botswana talent to their stable. After bringing Sharon Seno to the show, who is taking more and more limelight, they also featured popular faces such as Maxwell Dichi who played the role of Seretse and Kabo Timela who played the role of Nare.
It seems Muvhango is much impressed with talent from Botswana as they have once more debuted another Motswana, Angela Atlang.
Muvhango is a South African television soap opera created by Duma Ndlovu that is broadcast on public TV channel SABC 2 and has an average of 4 million daily viewers. The show is built on a premise that “motho ke motho ka batho,” meaning that people exist in a context in which no one is an island.
The show has a strong family orientation that seeks to speak to the conflict between traditional and modern ways.
The 26-year old native of Maun could not hold in her excitement when news of her debut hit social media. The show also announced the addition of the new member of its cast, Atlang, who holds a Bachelor of Theater Arts degree from the University of Botswana.
She plays Itseng Motsamai, James Motsamai’s estranged sister, a beautiful, seductive but hard and gritty woman who plies her trade as a strip dancer.
She tweeted: “I have waited too long for this day and now all I can say is ‘Thank you, God!’. I know this will shock a lot of people back home as I have kept this a closely guarded secret.
“I took the role because I love a good challenge. I believe that my work ethic will endear me to the viewers. They need to constantly see me, grow with me and I should not stay stagnant.”
It is always a big breakthrough when a rising talent lands a role in a big show such as Muvhango. “I am excited to work with the incredibly creative and generous cast and crew,” she said. “It’s all been beyond anything I could have imagined. The love is real.”
Five interesting facts about the new actress:
1: The Muvhango newbie is smitten as church girl.
“Ministering is one of my passions,” Angela says. “I also give out Bible-based advice to people who need counselling. I am a very spiritual person and deeply rooted in Christ. I have always been that way ever since I was born. For the first three months of my life, my mom says she had a deep sense of longing to live at a church. When I was born, she took me and raised me at a church house for the first three months of my life.”
2: After high school, she studied accounting.
“I never wanted to study accounting but I was pressured into it by people around me,” Angela says. “I did my first semester and dropped out, which meant I had to spend the rest of the year at home. I then took on work as a peer educator going door-to-door and teaching people how to use a condom. After that break, I went to study drama, which was my passion from primary school.”
3: She loves music.
“I wrote a song in 2016 called ‘Blesser’ featuring Stunna, which is still available on Soundcloud,” she says. “But I was young and my content has changed. I still want to pursue music but change the content to suit my spirituality and religion.”
4: Angela loves working out.
She goes to the gym almost six times a week. “I don’t like sports, but I’m a very strong person,” say the actor. “I have the strength of a man, physical strength. I work out for an hour or two and take one day’s break.
“I do cardio exercises that target every part of the body so I can be able to eat anything I want. I love food and I’m not very picky. I just don’t eat seafood, pork, or lamb because those animals have a strong biblical representation for me.”
5: Angela grew up in the resort town of Maun in Botswana.
“I have lived in a one-room house, used paraffin lamps and candles, and made an outside fire to cook,” she says. “My humble beginnings helped me to be the giving person I am today with humility and care for others. I help out at animal shelters and donate food, money, and clothes when I can because I know what it’s like to have less.”
