Winning At Life

Winnie Ntshaba’s new hairdo is stealing the limelight, but she’s more interested in growing the Royalty Soapie Awards and becoming a producing powerhouse

- Molife Kumona

YOU KNOW you’ve hit the big time when your hairdo makes headlines. She’s accustomed to the attention she’s gotten for looking stunning in her 40s, but not even she thought her hair would create such a fuss.

Luckily, it’s been good publicity. Ever since Royalty Soapie Awards founder and actress Winnie Ntshaba boldly went natural back in September, she’s been the talk of the town.

The rainy Johannesburg weather neither dampens her spirits nor disturbs her coiffure when we hook up at Clico Boutique Hotel in Rosebank. Looking radiant, she greets each member of our team with a hug and smile.

“A lot of people think I planned to get my short hairdo, but that wasn’t the case,” she tells us. “I went to my hairdresser one day and, after washing my weave, she asked what we were doing next. Without thinking, I said: ‘Let’s cut’.”

The next minute Winnie’s new hairstyle was trending on entertainment and lifestyle websites around the country.

“I didn’t expect that reaction,” she admits. “A lot of people were saying it suited me and I looked beautiful. I didn’t see that it was being reported on until my sister called me to say my new hairstyle was news. I was shocked.

“I thought I didn’t have the right head for the hairstyle and I wouldn’t look so great, but now I love it. Getting all these compliments makes it such a confidence booster.”

THERE was one voice of dissent in all the praise, though, and it belonged to the man in her life. Winnie explains how her “little man”, her six­year­old son Phenyo, reacted.