Late TV actress Noxolo “Noxy” Maqashalala, who was found dead at her flat in Honeydew, Johannesburg, died of natural causes, the family said.
Maqashalala’s body was found the weekend by police. Her family said it was relieved that there was no foul over her death, as per the report of the postmortem. Maqashalala, who launched her acting career with the role of Viwe in youth drama Tsha-Tsha will be buried on Friday in Mpoza village, Kwabhaca, in the Eastern Cape.
Her memorial service will take place next Wednesday at a venue still to be confirmed. She is survived by her four siblings.
Born in June 28 1976, Maqashalala was the pride and joy of her family and people from Kwabhaca, where she comes from. Her paternal uncle Khabo Mqashalala said as much as the family was devastated by the actress’ death they were comforted by the fact that she lived her dream.
“We are very proud to have produced a star like Noxolo in this family. She put the family name out there and we loved that. We supported her every step of the way,” he said.“When we heard the news of her death, it hit us hard as the family. We asked ourselves if she was poisoned or had been sick but the postmortem has proven that there was nothing sinister. We will continue enjoying her work in different shows where she was featured and remind ourselves of the good person she was. People from this village loved and cherished her.”
Maqashalala said after Noxy’s parents died, he assumed a role of being a guardian to all his brother’s kids.
He said as much as Noxy studied psychology, she always loved acting. He described his niece as a loving person who always loved cracking jokes.
“We enjoyed her company whenever she was around. She loved going to church. Most importantly, she avoided dramatic situations at all costs. We will miss her beautiful smile.”
The 44-year-old actress began school at Little Flower Primary in Qumbu and went to Victoria Girls High in Makhanda. She featured on TV shows such as Binnelanders, Diamond City, Dream World, Easy Money, Gauteng Maboneng, Generations, Rhythm City and The Kingdom.
Meanwhile, Menzi Ngubane who died on Saturday due to a stroke will be buried on Saturday in Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal.