Who Is Khaya Dladla and Does She Have A Husband or Wife?

Khaya Dladla is a 34 year-old actress, model, singer, TV, and radio presenter born on April 3rd, 1990, and best known for her role as GC in Uzalo. She is not married but was previously engaged to Mercutio Buthelezi.

Having begun acting when she was eight years old, Khaya Dladla’s career has spanned over two decades. She has mostly featured in theatre productions and has recently dominated the small screen. Besides acting, the Umlazi-born is a talented radio and TV presenter famous for hosting a drive show on Gagasi FM. She further works as a casting director, having founded her own casting agency.

What Is Khaya Dladla’s Age?

Khaya Dladla is 34 years old. She was born in Umlazi, a township in KwaZulu-Natal, on April 3rd, 1990. And her zodiac sign is Aries, according to Astrology.

Following years of hard work and sheer dedication to her craft, in 2015, at the age of 25, Khaya Dladla took home her first award―Simon Sabela Award for Best Supporting Actor.

What Is Khaya Dladla’s Gender?

Khaya Dladla was born male but is now a transgender woman. She has been open about her sexuality since childhood. Hence, there was no need for her to come out to her parents as they had known all along due to all the things she did as a child. They saw the signs early as she was into ballet and was the only male in the ballet class, whereas other male children enjoyed playing soccer.

A proud member of the LGBTIQ+ community, Khaya Dladla identifies as a transgender woman and a gay person. She is quite liberal about labels. Hence, she has advised people to use whatever pronoun resonates with them in identifying her as far as it doesn’t come from a place of malice. She’s not bothered whether she is called ‘she’ today and ‘he’ tomorrow.

Shhhh It's my birthday 🙂 #HouseofZwide@khaya_dladla pic.twitter.com/Q4NNsjDQxC

— House of Zwide (@etvHouseOfZwide) April 3, 2023

Khaya Dladla’s Family

Khaya Dladla is the fifth child out of her parents’ (Reggie and Thandi Dladla) six children. She grew up with her five siblings in Umlazi and had a happy childhood in the township, where she was sheltered from abuse and crime. Sadly, the bubbly media personality lost her father in 2010 while in her final year at Varsity College.

As a result, she had to grow up fast as she began shouldering family responsibilities at an age when she was supposed to be thriving and enjoying her life. In March 2022, Khaya took to Instagram to reveal what her family had been through for some time. In the post, she said her mother, Thandi had a stroke in early 2021, and on that same day, her uncle passed away.

Consequently, her mom’s health deteriorated, resulting in loss of mobility and speech. Even though Dladla’s family lacked support from people they hoped would have assisted, they managed to care for their mother, whose health condition has drastically improved as she can now walk and talk. The former Uzalo actor was grateful to God for blessing her with her siblings―sister Khanyi Dladla and brother, Mfundo, who took care of their mother when she suffered a stroke.

She also thanked her mother’s full-time nurse, Bonny Mweni, and the therapists who had been there throughout the journey, as well as those who provided any form of support to their family during the difficult time.

Khaya Dladla’s Education

Dladla completed her primary school education at Isipingo Hills Primary School. And then matriculated from Brentwood High School in Durban in the year 2005. In the next year, she enrolled at Varsity College, where she studied Marketing, Advertising, and Communication Science.

Following her graduation in 2010, the actress worked as a marketing strategist, communication and events manager, as well as a public relation officer for several years before gaining a strong footing in the entertainment industry.

Khaya Dladla Began Acting at the Age of 8

Khaya Dladla was introduced to acting by her parents as an extramural activity in childhood. Though they intended to keep her busy while they were working, she fell in love with the art. She then started attending acting and ballet classes when she was six years old.

After performing a dance piece and monologue on graduation day at the age of eight, a producer for a theatre production who was invited to the occasion added her to the cast for his upcoming project.

And that’s how Khaya Dladla started acting in theatre. She has taken part in many theatre productions across the country and overseas, including Sarafina and The Lion King. In 2018, she played a leading role in the ’70s musical titled, How Long? written by Gibson Kante and directed by Duma Ndlovu. Also, Somizi Mhlongo and Vusi Majola choreographed the play, and Khaya acted alongside Phindile Gwala and Mondli Makhoba.

Playing GC in Uzalo Shot Khaya to Fame

In February 2015, Khaya Dladla debuted in Uzalo as GC, meaning ‘Gay Character’. She was initially written to be a gay friend in three episodes of the SABC1 soapie, but after a satisfactory performance from the actor as well as a positive response from the viewers, her character was expanded and given a backstory. Consequently, Khaya was handed a recurring role as Gamakhulu Cetshwayo (GC) in the first season of Uzalo.

In the next season, she was promoted to a series regular and became one of the viewers’ favorite characters. She portrayed the character of a flamboyant gay hairstylist who speaks pidgin English. While on the show, GC got Uzalo trending on social media as he won the hearts of South African TV audiences, especially his way of using catchy phrases.

To perfectly execute the role, Khaya Dladla researched gay people who are in the beauty industry. Despite being gay, she admitted that she struggled to play GC as they share different personalities. Having spent time with people like GC to get into the role fully, it’s no surprise that the radio host was recognized with a Simon Sabela Award for Best Supporting Actor.

To the shock of the viewers, Khaya Dladla’s character was written out from Uzalo in Season 5 in 2019. And the reason for GC’s departure from the show was undisclosed. However, having made herself a popular demand, Khaya returned to Uzalo in the seventh season in April 2021. She eventually left the series for another project as the duration of her contract in Uzalo was not communicated to her upon her return.

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She Has Since Appeared in Several Other Productions 

After her sensational performance of a gay man in Uzalo, Khaya Dladla received offers to replicate the role in other acting projects, which she turned down. She doesn’t want to be typecast due to her sexuality, rather, she wants to be a versatile actor who can show her acting range and portrayal depth with diverse roles.

In January 2021, the 34-year-old rebranded her career with the role of a gangster-affiliated police officer, Nxebale Ndoda in eHostela. She made her debut in the second season of the drama series and was unrecognizable by her fans due to her body transformation. Not only did she get a deep scar on her face, but also had a voice turn and an ocular prosthesis. She received plaudits for her depictions in eHostela.

Although Khaya Dladla is on a mission to prove that she is capable of playing more than just a gay man on TV, she decided to join the cast of House of Zwide in mid-2021 as Lazarus – a queer fashion designer, to rightfully portray gay characters which she thinks are poorly portrayed on TV.

Hence, she made it known to the show’s producers that she wanted her character to have depth―to be smart and in power. In House of Zwide, Khaya Dladla plays classy, calm, and knowledgeable Lazarus, who is a leader in the fashion industry. He is the best friend of the founder and CEO of House of Zwide, Funani Zwide (Vusi Kunene).

She stated that her role in the future episodes of the e.tv drama series would touch on the infringement of transgender women’s rights as well as abuse. Having realized that she is representing the LGBTIQ+ community, she hopes to do her best to ensure that the story of everyone in the community is properly told.

Khaya Dladla’s Movies and TV Shows

Theatre

• Sarafina
• The Lion King
• How Long? (2018)

TV Shows

• Uzalo as GC (2015-2019, 2021)
• eHostela as Nxebale Ndoda (2021)
• House of Zwide as Lazarus (2021-present)

Khaya Dladla Has Had Many Radio and TV Presenting Gigs

Khaya Dladla launched her TV presenting career in 2016 as a co-presenter of Come Duze – the SABC1 New Year’s Eve bash. Later in March 2018, she was named as one of the three presenters (with Tbose Mokwele and The Naked DJ) for the BET talk show, The Man Council. The show was aired at night because of its adult content, as it tackled topics relating to love, dating, and sex.

In May 2019, the multi-talented media personality announced her latest radio gig at the KwaZulu-Natal radio station, Gagasi FM. She co-hosted The Uprising Show with Njabs Zwane and Felix Hlophe weekly from 6 AM to 9 AM. Following the announcement of the latest changes to the on-air show lineups at the radio station in early 2023, Khaya now co-hosts Gagasi FM Drive Show with Heazy and Zisto on weekdays from 3 PM to 6 PM.

While still juggling her plethora of careers, the award-winning actor picked up another TV presenting role in January 2023. She was named the presenter of the popular Mzansi Magic wedding show, Our Perfect Wedding Season 13. Khaya sees the big gig as an opportunity to show people other aspects of her life.

In addition to her work on TV, Khaya Dladla was a guest judge on Idols SA Season 17 in October 2021. She was also a featured guest in an episode of the SABC1 music talk show, Zaziwa, and a celebrity contestant on Tropika Smooth Fan, an advertiser-funded show aired on SABC1.

Khaya Dladla’s Modeling and Music Endeavors

Dladla is also a model and music artist. She started her music career as a member of the music group, Salt & Light. She has also been a backup vocalist for a number of musicians, including Thandiswa Mazwai, Hugh Masekela, and Salif Keita. In 2019, she was featured in Gabriel YoungStar’s single, ‘Indovozi’, and subsequently, was a featured artist in another of his song titled, ‘Ingoma’.

As a model, the 34-year-old walked the runway at the Durban Fashion Fair in 2016. She is presently showing off her modeling qualities with her fashionista character in House of Zwide.

Khaya Dladla Runs a Casting Agency

After departing Uzalo in 2019, Khaya Dladla went on acting hiatus but kept herself busy as a casting director. Afterward, she established a casting agency and has been coaching actors before they go for auditions.

As a casting director, Khaya is wary of being typecast and aims to shape the industry from behind the scenes by nurturing upcoming talent. She is glad that she often connects people to opportunities. And has, over the years, sourced talent in unique ways, including using social media platforms.

Who Is Khaya Dladla’s Husband?

Khaya Dladla’s former fiancé is a KwaZulu-Natal businessman called Mercutio Buthelezi. The former couple got engaged in October 2020 at a glam surprise engagement party held at Ocean Reef Hotel in Zinkwazi, north of eThekwini, and attended by their close friends and family.

Sadly, in 2022, it was speculated that Khaya and her fiancé had parted ways as they reportedly deleted each other’s pictures on their social media accounts and equally unfollowed each other on Instagram.

Although it was initially reported that distance and busy schedules took a toll on their relationship as Dladla moved to Johannesburg after securing a role in House of Zwide, the Gagasi FM presenter eventually opened up about her failed relationship on Engineer Your Life with Lungelo KM in April 2023. She stated that she was trying to create someone who didn’t exist.

Is Khaya Dladla Married Now?

Khaya Dladla is not yet married. However, she almost walked down the aisle with her boyfriend of many years, Mercutio Buthelezi. She was very public about her relationship with the businessman, and even though it’s still uncertain whether she is presently dating someone, Khaya has refrained from sharing her personal life details with the public.

Does Khaya Dladla Have a Child?

Khaya Dladla is not known to be a mother to any child. Despite having a long-term relationship with Mercutio Buthelezi, the relationship never produced any children. She has never made public her desire to have children but once stated in an interview that she loves having a big family as they usually support each other.