Before there were social media influencers. Before the likes of Minnie Dlamini, Bonang Matheba and other well-known media personalities became big, there was Nonhle Thema.
The actress, model and TV presenter, who is the daughter of former Muvhango actress Cynthia Shange, was “hip and happening” – as they would say in her time.
Between 2007 and 2011, the name Nonhle Thema was synonymous with trendy, beauty and talent. She was one of the go-to people for all things entertainment on our TV screens as a presenter on O-Access on Channel O and V-Entertainment on Vuzu. Her job was every girl’s dream as she would interview some of the biggest stars locally and internationally, subsequently landing her own reality show titled Nonhle Goes to Hollywood in 2011 and later on a docu-reality series Reality Check.
Nonhle had the world as her oyster; bagging lucrative endorsement deals as the face of hair straightener, Dark n Lovely, and other car manufacturers.HER FALL FROM GRACE
However, it all came crumbling down when she got cancelled before the term “cancel culture” became a thing. Nonhle’s fall from grace came in 2011 after a public meltdown on Twitter where she called herself “god” amongst other things.
During her tirade, Nonhle engaged with Twitter trolls, bragged about having money and even told her industry folks that she could afford to pay all their salaries. At the time, popularised the term “Sit Down” as an obscene way of dismissing people she did not like.
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