Rising star Kgaogelo Monama is enjoying her role on DiepCity. She's come far from the days of play-acting Sarafina with a group of friends around her hometown.
She loved the performing arts so much as a child that everyone in the neighborhood knew it and they gave her the nickname CCV, which was what the SABC was called at the time. Now she gets to play a character so broad that it's shifted her comfort zone – and she gets paid for living her dream.
Kgaogelo Monama from Vosloorus is counting her blessings. She's faced so many rejections that she was expecting another one when she auditioned for DiepCity. “I went to audition for the role, but I didn’t want to keep my hopes up because I am used to rejection. I was at my late aunt’s funeral who was like a mother to me when I got the call telling me that I have got the role. I felt like that was my aunt saying here we go my child, although you going a difficult time here is something to look forward to. It was life-changing because this is what I love doing.”
Out of her grief came one of her greatest blessings and she's sure her aunt had a hand in it. She tells us how she fell in love with acting. “Growing up I was passionate about the arts and I was involved in community art groups that used to play out Sarafina and the likes. In the neighbourhood I grew up in, I used to be called CCV, which is the previous name of the SABC. I always used to add the CCV at the end of my names and people always remind me of that because of where I am today. I took the artsy side of me from my father, he was actually a musician,” .
Kgaogelo has a bachelor’s degree in drama from the Tshwane University of Technology. She currently plays Lerato on Mzansi Magic’s Telenovela DiepCity, which follows the lives of four young women who are living in tough circumstances and who stick together through thick and thin.
Lerato is a young girl who is fascinated by the finer things in life. She's also fiercely loyal and committed to helping her three best friends where she can.
“I have played in other productions before, but I have never played a lead of a telenovela like I am right now, it has been so good for my career because it showcases my versatility and the things that my acting can do as a performer.”
Kgaogelo says that she enjoys everything about playing Lerato because she takes her out her comfort zone.
“Lerato is something else, every girl wants to be a Lerato because she doesn’t know what the edge is. She has no limit, this is my opportunity to become her, sometimes the things Lerato does make Kgaogelo uncomfortable but that’s the nice thing about being an actor. I am able to step into anyone’s shoes and become them. For me acting is therapeutic.
“I like playing Lerato because she’s always optimistic, she sees the positive in everything. She is a go-getter. She falls but she rises again when most people tend to focus on the fall,” she tells us.
“Acting is in me, I cannot think of anything else outside of the entertainment industry. It’s a blood vessel in me. I never think of quitting, I have had the breaks and the ups and down. I pray about it all the time, but I believe that it is apart of me. Everything is happening now because I am more mature. I know how to appreciate the opportunities that come my way, it keeps very humbled.”
One of the most beautiful elements about DiepCity is the focus on sisterhood and friendship between Nox, Lerato, Asanda, and Sne. They are four young women who stick together through difficult, and they portray a strong united front as women.
“When we saw that we would be working together, we were excited. There is a bond there and it was created during the show and we want to tell real stories. And we all work well together, we are determined to make it a friendship relatable to South Africa. Nox took the fall for the team while we were involved in crime and now we want to make up for it because we have lost her for five years. It has been amazing to be a part of.
“The show is not foreign it reflects the lives of South Africans.”
She also passionate about raising women empowerment and wants to start her own organization that helps women and young girls.
"I am passionate about women and I feel like we need more mentors and I want to guide young girls and mentoring them to become empowered girls. I also would one day love to raise a baby girl and teach her the ways of life."