Thokoza Gogo!

Celebrating the good fortune that has come her way, Boity Thulo’s life is on the up and up.

- Linda Mali

When Boity posted a picture of herself, on Africa Day, wearing fabric traditionally associated with a sangoma-in-training, social media went wild, attacking her for disrespecting cultural practices. A few weeks later, she followed this up with another image; this time in full initiate garb, with the caption, “They called. I answered. The proudest, most incredible day of my life. A beautiful gift that I will never take for granted. #ThokozaGogo #KgosigadiDabulamanzi #Blessed #OwnYourThrone”. I was keen to find out about her spiritual journey as well as her new career direction.

Describe your latest TV show

Ridiculousness Africa is a light-hearted show on MTV, full of laughs. We chill on a couch and watch videos of people making fools of themselves. Thomas Gumede is the host, with Nigerian comedian Basket mouth and I as his sidekicks. We shot it in Spain, which was amazing as it was my first time there. The job is brilliant because we got paid to laugh and crack jokes [laughs]. Don’t get me wrong, there was a fair amount of pressure. We also didn’t get to see the videos ahead of time; we are seeing and responding to them along with the studio audience. We had to maintain a certain balance where our responses to the videos had to be funny or witty, but authentic. I tried not to put too much effort – if something wasn’t funny, I didn’t laugh.

What makes your show different from the American version?

I believe every region has its own humour. We bring our African perspective. If other countries showed the same videos, how we respond to them would be different to Americans or Europeans.

How is your relationship with your fellow presenters?