Linda Sokhulu has just joined the ever-evolving cast of 7de Laan as Tumi. Sokhulu’s character is the youngest of four siblings who lost her mother when she was seven years old. Tumi enters the storyline in search of answers about her mother’s death when something that her father’s first wife says triggers her to delve deeper.
Her father, a polygamist, runs numerous successful businesses which her siblings are involved in, but she chose a different path, furthering her studies and qualifying as a medical doctor. Ambitious as she is, she then went back to university and got a professional qualification as a lawyer.
Her track record when it comes to romance is not that successful, however. In fact, one of her relationships resulted in her exposing her husband’s dubious dealings when her strong moral ethics wouldn’t allow her to look the other way.
The relationship ultimately ended in divorce. As Tumi arrives in Hillside, she hopes that her grandmother (an unseen, but favourite character in Hillside) will have some answers relating to her mother’s death. Tumi settles in Hillside and builds strong relationships, while still determined to solve the mystery about her past.
But Who Is Linda Sokhulu?
Linda Sokhulu is a South African actress best known for her role as vibrant, sassy ex-hooker Cleo Khuzwayo on the SABC1 soapie Generations, from May 2004 to February 2007. More recently she is best known for her role as Nikiwe Sibeko on the SABC3 soapie Isidingo.
Sokhulu matriculated at Cambridge College in Durban in 1994. She studied Fashion design at Natal Tech for two years but didn't complete her studies because she realised that fashion design wasn't where she wanted to end up.
She later joined a workshop at the Natal Playhouse where she came to love acting and was fortunate enough to work with Tina Johnston. She appeared in two plays with the Play House: Schools Macbeth and Izwe Lezathini.
Sokhulu has also done work with independent companies focusing on children's theatre, including The Sky is Red with Artists in a Container and A Doggy Tale with the Actors Co-op.
She later studied for a BCOMM over four years through UNISA and worked for Repp Theatre for Life in 2003.
In 2007 she was cast in the lead role of Nomathemba in the mini-series Ubizo (The Calling), in which she played an ambitious microbiologist on the fast-track to success whose life is thrown into turmoil when she is contacted by her ancestors through her dreams.
She plays the starring role of Pamela Thusi, a lawyer (and partner in the firm) who works for the Sokhulu brothers, in the SABC1 drama series Sokhulu & Partners, since 2008.
In 2011 she starred as Lefika in the SABC1 mini-series Shreds & Dreams, based on the 2004 play of the same name.