Masasa Mbangeni

Masasa Lindiwe Mbangeni was born on in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.^{[citation needed]}

She received the Mandela Rhodes Scholarship to study at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, where she graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in dramatic arts, specialising in performance and directing.^{[citation needed]}

Mbangeni made guest appearances on two television series: as Eunice on the BBC Television crime drama Silent Witness and as Jackie's personal assistant on the M-Net soapie, Egoli.^{[citation needed]}

She also performed in stage plays at the Johannesburg's Market Theatre: Nogogo, Sundjata, and Amen Corner, directed by James Ngcobo. She also toured Grahamstown Festival of the Arts with the play Oedipus @ Koonu.^{[citation needed]}

In 2013, she joined the cast of popular television serial Scandal! and played the role of Thembeka Shezi.^[1][2] The role became highly popular, but she left the series in 2016.^[3]

After Scandal!, she appeared in the season two of thriller television series Thola, telecast on SABC 2. Then she played the role of Celia in the series Harvest.^{[citation needed]} She later returned to the series and then the character was shot dead, making her second exit from the show.^[4][5][6]

In 2011, she played in the American feature film Machine Gun Preacher.^{[citation needed]}

In 2023, she appears in the role of as Mbali Kaleni in the five-part crime thriller series Devil's Peak, based on Deon Meyer's novel of the same name.^[7]

Mbangeni took part in the Marie Claire "Naked" campaign in 2015 to raise public awareness about sexual violence against women and children.^{[citation needed]}

Mbangeni received two nominations for Best Actress in a TV Soap from the South African Film and Television Awards (SAFTA) in 2014 and 2015 for her role in Scandal!. In 2017, she received a nomination for Best Actress in the inaugural DStv Mzansi Magic Viewers' Choice Award.^{[citation needed]}