A Love That Spans Continents

Actress FIKILE MTHWALO-KANI, 27 juggles a long-distance but happy marriage to Atandwa Kani while studying in New York.

- Phila Tyekana

It’s 8pm in South Africa and 2pm in New York, where Fikile Mthwalo-Kani is based. She’s on lunch break from her master’s studies at Tisch School of the Arts at New York University and has found time to squeeze in 30 minutes to chat on the phone. Although in her second year at the university, Fikile has had a few acting gigs in South Africa. In 2014 she debuted on TV as troublemaker Ntombizakhe ‘Zak’ Khumalo on Isidingo. The starlet graduated from the University of Cape Town in 2011 and says she was an all-rounder, a top student who thought she would study business after high school.

But while in Amsterdam on a gap year, she decided to pursue acting as a career. This decision was influenced by her host family, who worked in the media. Many of her friends were into the arts too. Soon after Isidingo, Fikile played Ipeleng on Mzansi Magic’s It’s Complicated and also starred in e.tv’s Gold Diggers. She made it to the top 24 finalists in the O-Access Presenter Search on Channel O back in 2010. Dineo Moeketsi won that year.