Mnqobi Duma is a South African actor known for his in the South African Soapie Opera Generations: The legacy. Duma played the role of Fana the son of Jack Mabaso.
Full name: Mnqobi Duma
Date of birth: 28 October 1988 (33 years old)
Place of birth: Kwa-Zulu Natal, South African
Occupation: Actor
Known for: Fana on Generations: The Legacy
Education: New Forest High school (2002)
Degree in Music and Drama University of Kwa-Zulu Natal (2010-2013)
Children: 1 Son (11/12 years old as of 2021)
Nationality: South African
Early life of Mnqobi Duma
Mnqobi Duma was born on the 28th October in 1988 and is 33-years-old as of 2021. The Generations star always enjoyed acting and drama even while still in High school. He attended High school at New Forest High School. Mnqobi finished his matric in 2002. Afterward, he enrolled for a Barchelors degree in Science.
However, after going through numerous depressions he decided to drop out and focus on his first love, Music. He was in his third year when he quit and couldn’t finish his third modules. After that he enrolled for a degree in Music (Pop and Jazz) and later changed it to a degree in Music and Drama in his second year. Mnqobi graduated from his degree in 2013 which he started in 2010.
Career struggles and beginning
Mnqobi’s career was not an easy one. He started off by selling CDs of his music in the streets and perfoming in some gigs. At this time he was also doing some theatre work. Mnqobi Duma got his big break when he got a gig as a presenter on the etv show of Craz-e. After this things started to become a bit stable as he got another small gig on Isidingo. However, things didn’t escalate after this, he was forced to go back to Kwa-Zulu Natal as things started to become sour. Just when he thought doors were finally opening for him.
After some time in his home town of Durban, he finally gatheres courage to return to Jo’burg. As Duma says: “My hardships were not so much getting into this industry but more about staying in it. I got my fair share of ‘no’s’ in the industry and I still get them now and again. Coming back from those, takes a lot of practice.” However, even after all the hardships he had been through he returned to Jo’burg and doors did open.
He got a role on Isibaya and then from there he got a cameo role on Zabalaza. From this he auditioned for a role on Generations: The legacy but didn’t get the role as the producers said he didn’t look like a drunkard. After this, he applied for a cast reading job but was rejected. However, a month and a half later he got a call that the show was looking for Jack Mabaso’s son. After his audition he got the role and played Bafana, who was a lawyer and he enjoyed the role.
Read: Tabile Tau biography – Bonga on Generations
Resurgence and halting of Duma’s career
After his very loved role of Fana was gaining wide acclaim on set; Duma was fired and axed from the show. However, after some time, the role was killed off and his contracr ended. But, this wasn’t the end though, Duma set of to pursue his dreams. However, he talked about some stars he would miss working with, like Manaka Ranaka whom he says was very welcoming. He also mentioned Thuli Phongolo as one of the stars he enjoyed interacting with. Now, Duma is set off to work on some projects including a film called Umuthi that his production company McOnbi- McEleli. They also have some web series they’re working on.
Music career and Criticism
After Mnqobi Duma released his single called ‘Umsindo’. People had a lot to say, black twitter went crazy. He was told that he could not sing and should focus on something else. Some even called his music a joke. However, Mnqobi kept his chin high saying he will respond to the comments in 2 months when he releases his new track Umlilo. This was back in 2018 and since then he has released more music and you can stream his music on all platforms including Sound cloud.
Read: Anathi Gobeni known as Lindo from Imbewu full biography