WRITTEN BY: OMEGA NGEMA
Award winning actress, and entrepreneur Fundi Zwane is back on our television screens. Her role as erudite lawyer Lu in multi award winning etv soapie Rhythm city aired for the first time on April 28. Even though the show has been cancelled and will be airing its final episode in July, Fundi brings her artistic prowess to a new level as she enamours audiences with her delivery of the role so notably disparate from her previous role in Imbewu the Seed over the past three years. “Playing Lu has been great because she has a completely different DNA, she rocks heels to work and speaks in corporate and legal jargon, which has been a switch for me because I’ve spent the last three years playing a rural mama, so it’s been a transformation. I take my time to enjoy each character I play and how each is uniquely nuanced,” said Fundi.
The ‘rural mama’ she played on Imbewu earned her a SAFTA and thousands of adoring fans who still affectionately refer to her by her stage name “Donsi”. Her performance of the character was studied and meant different things for Fundi as an artist with each season, she said. “In 2018, it meant establishing a sound character, 2019 was about pushing myself artistically with Donsi in terms of her emotional depth and ability to deliver a wide range of variable emotions convincingly leading us to 2020 where the strategy was to really push the boundaries of biometric data on what I was capable of delivering on set with regards to time,” said Fundi.
The acting bug bit the South Coast girl while leading a gumboots dance performance with a group of friends while in Grade 10 at Port Shepstone High School. Her experience in the performance and the reception from the audience coupled with encouragement from her drama teachers Lynn Raymond and Anita Schönauer activated a very important aspect of her art, she said.
The Umtentweni born girl said growing up in a small town was ‘warm and communal’. She said the small town was exciting as there was always something to look forward to in terms of its growth. “The beauty of growing up in a small town that still has strong ties to its African indigenous context allowed for me to be closely raised by most members of the family and it helped me understand that human beings are textured differently,” said Fundi.
Even after having been in the public eye for such a long time, Fundi has managed to live a relatively private personal life. She said she curates the parts of herself that she wants to share with the world including travel, product marketing and parenting.
One of the latest products that Fundi is marketing is her own perfume brand Camagu, a brand she said was inspired by the beginning of a new journey unfolding in her life. “Choosing the notes for the fragrance was an intimate experience which took a while because I understood that it’s a part of me that a person gets to experience just as they would my acting, so it’s been great for us to put in the hard yards of putting in the business foundations and it’s also been exciting for me to explore the e-commerce space because it revolutionised how I’m able to get Camagu to people on their doorstep,” said Fundi.
As proficient entrepreneur, Fundi has encouraged other artist to pursue various forms of business avenues for their own security and growth.
“Business gives me my own language and an avenue to make sense of my world, my way. It also breeds integrity and accountability which is something that’s stood me in good stead along the journey,” said Fundi.
She said although running your business was admittedly no money for old rope, and was also especially difficult due to the Covid-19 pandemic it was important to have something that one can have ownership of and generate an income from.
“I’m very thankful to my ancestors to be born in this time where expression and breaking of norms that don’t serve us are chucked out the window. I’m bald and bold and I’m a woman. I synergise with companies that embrace my unique individuality,” said Fundi.
She said business has taught her the importance of who she is and her unique skillset as well as the power of fruitful collaboration as the best business comes from healthy business relationships.
“If I could advise us all as citizens of Port Shepstone, it is that we need to start an Arts and Entertainment culture. Our town is already a tourist destination, it’s now about finding ways to merge those two areas of commerce. We’ve seen other small towns do it with great success,” said Fundi.
