Quick Facts
Biography
Gugulethu Zuma-Ncube (born 1985) is a South African television actor and producer, daughter of President Jacob Zuma and African National Congress (ANC) politician Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, and daughter-in-law to Zimbabwean United Movement for Democratic Change politician Welshman Ncube.
Early life
Zuma-Ncube was born in 1985. In 2007, she graduated from AFDA with a Live Performance degree. Her graduation film, Sindiswa, was nominated for the Student Academy Awards (Student Oscars) in Hollywood. She met her husband, Wesley Ncube, while she was studying in Cape Town, and married him at the end of 2008.
Career
Gugulethu has appeared in several television shows, including Interrogation Room, SABC3's Isidingo, and E.tv's Rhythm City.
It's for Life
Through Nyenyedzi Productions, which she co-owns with her sisters Nokuthula Nomaquawe and Thuthukile Zuma, she co-produced and acted in Mzansi Magic's It’s for Life, a 2011 sitcom about four 20-somethings who find a squatter in their house. Their father promoted the series through his official presidential Twitter account, for which he received criticism.
Uzalo
Zuma-Ncube also co-owns Stained Glass Productions with Kobedi "Pepsi" Pokane, through which they co-produced Uzalo, a soapie, for the SABC1 channel. It aired three days per week, Monday to Wednesday, and was the second-most popular television show in South Africa, behind Mzansi Magic's Isibaya telenovella, with which it was intended to compete.
The first season, which aired in 2015, cost R50 million, and was filmed and produced in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, where it received R8 million from the ANC-led local municipal government. The Democratic Alliance accused the local municipality of patronage for funding the private production, noting that there would be no government oversight of the spending and that the money could have helped less established entertainment businesses instead.
The TV series was caught in controversy when then-SABC CEO Hlaudi Motsoeneng intervened in a decision not to renew the series, deciding instead to commission another three seasons for around R160 million, an amount with which "the SABC could produce about 20 programmes". Stained Glass Productions were accused of political interference with the procurement processes of the SABC, which the co-producers denied, claiming that they "did everything by the book" and that they received no "special treatment".
Politics
In 2011, she volunteered at Luthuli House, the ANC's headquarters, with her sister Thuthukile.