KHESWA

A South African Township Girlhood: Nonhlanhla Kheswa (who most often goes by her surname alone, “Kheswa”) grew up between two hardscrabble townships of Johannesburg – Alexandra and Soweto. She credits several primary school teachers with instilling in her a love of storytelling and singing. She attended Soweto's Morris Isaacson High School, where, two decades before Kheswa's time there – more precisely, from June 13 to June 16, 1976 – the Soweto Uprising, a major turning point in South African political history, had been set in motion by Teboho Mashinini and other students. Before leaving school in 1998, Kheswa was recruited by South African film and television director Darrell Roodt ("Sarafina!", "Cry, the Beloved Country", "Dangerous Ground", "Winnie Mandela") for a role in his Soul City. On the heels of that, the illustrious composer, arranger, and producer Lebohang “Lebo M.” Morake snatched her up for Disney's "The Lion King", where she read more...