PROFILE: Ditebogo Ledwaba a class act
The award-winning actress has recently ventured into being a voice-over artist and singer.
Wits alumna, Ditebogo Ledwaba, an award-winning actress on Generations: The Legacy conquered “the edge” while working and studying full time.
Born on May 5, 2001, in Limpopo and raised in Pretoria, Ledwaba moved to Johannesburg in 2019 to pursue her studies in BA film and television at Wits University. She completed her studies in record time graduating with honours.
She told Wits Vuvuzela that, “My acting career began in high school when I was doing music and one day an agent came to our school for casting. I auditioned and got the role and went to be on the commercial. I got to be on set and working there was un-explainable; being with the directors and actors was amazing and that’s how I fell in love with it and decided I want to do it for the rest of my life.”
The 22-year-old started working in 2015 when she played 10-year-old Umuhoza in Beautifully Broken. She played another little girl in a Netflix movie, Red Sea Diving Resort, and, in 2019 when she was in first year, she played Alheri, a Nigerian character in the series, Commandos: The Mission. She also played Malu in Professionals.
In 2021 she started presenting on YoTV, a youth show on SABC 1 and played Lesedi in Lioness, a drama serieson M-Net whose second season was released this past January. In Generations: The Legacy, she plays a schoolgirl, Mbali.
Ledwaba says she and Mbali are similar, the only difference being that the character tries too hard to find different things to validate herself whereas the actress has no need to. “I don’t need family, boys, … social media or popularity to make me feel like I’m enough,” she says.
Balancing work and education was a challenge for the talented actress. “It was really overwhelming to a point where sometimes during covid I had to take online classes at work. Sometimes I had to make the decision to catch up with my schoolwork to be able to give my heart at work. What really helped me is prayer and taking it one step at a time,” Ledwaba says.
Ditebogo Ledwaba regularly comes to Wits University to hold Bible discussions with other Witsies. Photo: Sinazo Mondo
From TV she has ventured into being a voice-over artist. She also sings and has released four singles on Spotify, Apple music and other music platforms, under the name Didigaly.
Chrisna van Rhyn (20), Ledwaba’s friend from Wits, describes her as kind and compassionate. “She is always willing to help people and she will call you out if you did something wrong and correct you. You can always lean on her.”
Ntandazo Peter who plays Lefa on Generations says Ledwaba is passionate about acting and easy to work with. “If I would put her into any movie, it would be The Woman King, which she’s part of anyway, but she’s a woman who is a king in her own world and it’s something that other women admire. She’s a young woman who is carried by God, who believes in God and loves people,” says Peter.
Ledwaba describes herself as a disciple, whose favourite Bible scripture is John 4, verse 24: “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” Her ultimate goal is to have her own production company in five years’ time.
Featured image: Ditebogo Ledwaba gets her make up done before going on set. Photo: Supplied
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