Actress Leleti Khumalo became a star as the lead to the acclaimed Hollywood movie Sarafina. She stared alongside heavyweights such as Whoopi Goldberg in the movie before transitioning to television with roles on Generation, Uzalo and now Imbewu among others.
 

Leleti also began appearing with a blotched skin. The blotched skin is caused by the skin condition Vitiligo. Vitiligo is a disease that causes a loss of skin colour in blotches. It is generally painless and unharmful but can impact a person psychologically as it can drastically change a person’s appearance.

“I first noticed little spots on my upper leg when I was about 18. They were painless and didn’t bother me so I ignored them”, Leleti recalls. The white spots began to grow however, and she started using many measures to try and alleviate the disease.

“In my industry appearance is everything. I was desperate for a cure. I tried everything, herbs, capsules, creams and other therapies. I also underwent light therapy which was very painful and time consuming”.

Before she had her twins, Leleti was warned that falling pregnant could make the condition worse, and it did. The blotches spread everywhere until she realized she could no longer keep them hidden. She then began to embrace them.

“So many people with vitiligo are belittled, mocked and humiliated because of their pigmentation”, she says. “I want to send a message that this disease does not change who you are as a person”.

When accepting her role on Imbewu she ensured that the character she was playing would have vitiligo to bring awareness to the condition. “I had created a false sense of self by masking my true identity it was time to show the world the real me.