Masasa Lindiwe Mbangeni is an actress from South Africa. She is best known for her part in the hit television series Scandal as Thembeka Shezi.

She was born in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, on March 6, 1987. She eventually relocated to Johannesburg to further her education.

She was awarded a Mandela Rhodes scholarship to study at the University of Witwatersrand, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Dramatic Arts with a concentration in Performance and Directing. She appeared as ‘Eunice’ on the BBC crime thriller Silent Witnesses and as ‘Jackie’s personal assistant’ on the M-Net soapie Egoli. She has appeared in three theater plays directed by James Ngcobo at the Johannesburg Market Theatre: Nogogo, Sundjata, and Amen Corner. Meanwhile, she was on tour with the show Oedipus @ Koonu at the Grahamstown Festival of the Arts.

She landed the role of ‘Thembeka Shezi’ on the popular television series Scandal! in 2013. Despite the fact that she exited the job in 2016, the role became extremely popular. In 2014 and 2015, she was nominated for two South African Film and Television Awards (SAFTA) for the role of Best Actress in a TV Soap. She was also nominated for Best Actress in the inaugural DStv Mzansi Magic Viewers Choice Award at the same time. She next participated in season two of the suspense television series Thola, which aired on the SABC2 channel after Scandal! Then she appeared in the series Harvest as ‘Celia.’ [requires citation] Mbangeni eventually returned to the show, but the character was killed off, marking her second departure from the show.

She starred in the feature film Machine Gun Preacher in 2011. She also participated in the Marie Claire naked campaign in 2015 to raise awareness about sexual abuse against women and children, in addition to acting.