Late Actor Sello Motloung was a Devout Catholic

by Gunther Simmermacher · Published September 17, 2024 · Updated September 17, 2024

Devout Catholic, Sello Motloung, who died on September 15, 2024

Actor Sello Motloung, who died on September 15 at the age of 54, was a devout Catholic.

The actor was best-known for his roles in TV series such as Isidingo, Backstage, Madam and Eve, Generations, Schoop Schoombie, Matatiele, Rhythm City, Ring Of Lies and The Estate. In the 2017 film An Act of Defiance he played Nelson Mandela, and in the 2006 Rugby World Cup epic Invictus, played Mandela’s doctor. Other film roles include Zulu Love Letter, How to Steal 2 Million, and Gangster’s Paradise: Jerusalema.

In an interview with The Southern Cross, which ran in the issue of July 15, 2020, he told Daluxolo Moloantoa how some of his earliest childhood memories included being fascinated by his French parish priest, Fr Marina, speaking in Sesotho. “I could not fathom that language could transcend race at the time,” he recalled.

Left: Interview in The Southern Cross, July 15, 2020. Right: (Right) The poster for the 2017 film An Act of Defiance, in which Sello Motloung played Nelson Mandela (seen in the bottom left panel). Left bottom: Condolences from the SABC.

He also remembered the distinct smell of incense at his home church of St Michael’s in Meadowlands, Soweto.

The youngest of three children of a domestic worker single-parent, Motloung did all his schooling in his hometown and began acting attending Saturday acting lessons while in high school at the Fuba Arts Academy in downtown Johannesburg.

Like most other township youngsters, he watched American action movies at the local cinema. He also went to watch township theatre productions whenever they came to his part of Soweto.

Motloung practised his faith together with his long-term partner, Nthabiseng Grant. “She is a very committed Catholic. We do everything together, including prayer. I’m very grateful for her, including spiritually,” he said in the Southern Cross interview.

Motloung believed that one’s faith and character ultimately determine one’s legacy. “I think that everything about a particular person depends on their faith in God, and how they treat those they encounter and interact with in the journey of their lives. One’s conduct with others is highly important.”

Asked what he hoped his legacy would be, he replied: “What would make me happy is to be remembered for telling great stories.”

As a parishioner of St Hubert‘s Church in Alexandra, Johannesburg, he played an instrumental role in a recent fundraising dinner by the parish.