ynthia Shange (74) is a well known actress and a model. Many know her from Muvhango, an SABC 2 telenovela widely watched by South Africans. Little did most of us know that before she graced our screens as an actress, she was a model. It was until her picture circulated on twitter where people were astonished that she once represented South Africa at the Miss World Stage in 1974. Many have commented on her beauty that has stood the test of time.
 

 

 

 

 

 

Cynthia Shange started her modelling career in 1970. She has since won multiple titles including Miss Natal. This qualified her to enter the Miss South Africa. During 1970’s apartheid was at its prime. Back in the day, the national beauty pageant was reserved mostly for white women and there was segregation within the pageant. She then participated as Miss Black South Africa and won. This made her the first black women to represent South Africa in the Miss World stage.

This was not the last that the world saw of her. Her modelling career opened a lot of doors for her. Soon after walking the Miss World Stage, she featured in SA’s first black film called Udeliwe. She featured along big black starts like Joe Mafela who has since passed on. One person on Twitter commented “the 2000’s would never know the joy it was to watch the story of Udeliwe in those black and white tv’s”. Soon after she was cast in an international recognized series called Shaka Zulu. These roles cemented her as an actress which later landed her the role of being a mother to Thandaza in Muvhango.