Refilwe Madumo is a South African actress, singer, and a dancer who caught the attention of many when she played the role of Palesa Mooki-Letswalo, a young HIV-positive mother in the popular e.tv soap opera, Scandal!.
She is also on the TV series Generations: The Legacy, where she is playing the role of Fikile. Besides her talents, the industrious young woman is also a graduate of Tshwane University of Technology in Pretoria, South Africa.
As is the case with most of South Africa’s top movie actors and iconic thespians, Refilwe Madumo possesses that incredibly unique ability to breathe life into any character she picks up irrespective of style or personality. This has in no small measure endeared the actress to millions of South African television lovers (producers as well) who have been star-struck by her mesmerizing acting skills. However, acting and television entertainment are not all there is to the actress. Refilwe Madumo is also a proud mother and takes the art of parenting as a passion as she is also teaching and encouraging other parents to do the same.
Refilwe Madumo is known for acting with emotions and energy as she has skillfully won her way into the hearts of many. She is a South African thespian who has been active since the 1990s. In 2006, she made a guest appearance on the SABC1 sitcom, Izoso Connexion. The following year, she was featured in One Way where she played the character of Zanele, and in 2008, she was featured as Ruth in the miniseries Huis van Liefde on SABC2. In 2015, she landed another major acting role on Mamello, an SABC2 drama series. Refilwe Madumo is presently part of the cast of the popular South African TV series, Generations: The Legacy. On the show, she plays the role of Fikile, a cheeky character who is also Lucy Diale’s childhood friend. There are a number of roles which she has successfully settled into, mesmerizing her fans and other TV lovers with her acting prowess every time she appears in front of their screens. Some other works Refilwe Madumo has featured in include, Scandal!, Rhythm City, Backstage, Madam & Eve, Izoso Connexion, Side Dish, Ring of Lies, Inconceivable, among so many others. Know more about the Generations: The Legacy star in these ten facts. The phenomenal actress, Refilwe Madumo, was among those who joined in the #TheTotalShutdown march that took place on the 1st of August 2018 in Pretoria. #Thetotalshutdown is a hashtag that was used by South African women to protest against Femicide and high levels of violence against women in the country. Femicide is the term used to describe the criminal act of killing a girl simply because of her gender. With Femicide, women have fewer chances of living freely in society. It is seen as the most unreasonable form of gender-based violence. South Africa marks “women’s month” every year in the month of August to commemorate the 9th of August 1956 when 20,000 women marched to protest against overbearing apartheid laws which made life unbearable for women in South Africa. The country has one of the highest rates of violence against women and girls in the world. Despite efforts to eradicate gender-based violence, Femicide continues to rise in the country, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Most victims have no choice but to be confined in the same space with their abusers, in the course of the lockdown. According to the United Nations, the number of victims of Femicide is on the increase. Refilwe Madumo is the proud mother of two lovely boys and her sons are a huge part of her life. She revealed that she and her children are going through the learning process and struggles in the journey of parenting. Refilwe is quite a lovely mother who tries to be there for her boys. She feels guilty that she is not spending enough time with her children, as she juggles three jobs all the time; her acting, dancing, and singing careers. The beautiful actress feels her children need more of her attention, as she saddles nurturing her career and her growing babies. She stated that raising black children who love themselves is one of our biggest responsibilities as parents. She does not have the intention of forcing her children into acting just because she has become a successful actress. On the contrary, she believes that acting requires passion and dedication in order for anyone to become successful in it, and for her children, she would preferably allow them to do what they have passion in. “Ask A Parent/Mama Mantics” is a blog and YouTube channel that is updated on a weekly basis, where Refilwe Madumo shares the personal experiences of parents and teaches them to be loving and kinder to themselves. In “Mama Mantics”, Refilwe encourages parents to be kind to themselves as it would in turn help them become better parents to their children. She also teaches parents how to behave themselves, as children learn values from their parents or guardians – what they see each day influences what they apply in their lives. She encourages parents to create healthy habits such as taking care of their personal mental health and seeing their children as individuals who need help to develop and be themselves. She also promotes the idea that parents should not impose their will on their kids. Talking about having seen it all, Refilwe Madumo has been through the worst times as a parent that is why she is probably the most ideal candidate to talk about raising kids the right way. The actress had an episode in her life’s story where she was almost raped by a hoodlum, and to cap it up, the incident would have happened in the presence of her kids. The incident happened just about two weeks after the birth of her younger son, while the older child was only two years old at the time. She further reveals that the uncident occurred when she was in her parent’s home and thugs unexpectedly broke into the house, but before they got into the room she was in, she was able to put a call through to the police, intimating them of a break-in. When they (the thugs) finally got into the room, one of them threatened to rape her right in front of her kids. He held her at gunpoint and forced her to lead him through the house, as he was looking for guns. When she told him they don’t keep guns in the house, he threatened to rape her right in front of her kids, if he doesn’t get what he wants. Fortunately, the police arrived in time before he could carry out his threats and the intruder was apprehended. She says he is currently in prison where he is serving a fifty-year jail term. After witnessing so many cases of sexual abuse and violence against women and almost being a victim herself, Refilwe Madumo has decided to host a TV talk show to discuss the menace of sexual-based violence to air on SABC1 sometime in the nearest future. It is her desire to see a society where women can live liberally, without the fear of being taken advantage of. As of 2013, the beautiful actress was said to be married, although there is no information about who her husband is and what he does for a living. Unlike most women who are usually proud to show off their husbands on social media, Refilwe is different. The actress has not uploaded any pictures of herself with the love of her life on her IG account. Despite being so private, she agreed to give Drum a little information about how she met her husband. According to her, she met her prince charming through a mutual friend who told her he was the perfect man for her. At that first meeting, her friend was so confident that he was the right person for her, but she didn’t find him attractive at the time. However, after a while – and a couple of dates in between – her eyes opened to how perfect he was for her. Though there are no details on the kind of marriage they have, she refers to him as a respectful, loving, and caring husband. We can’t say for sure if the lovebirds are still together or if the wind of divorce has blown them away because she is very much private. The actress certainly keeps information about her private life very close to her chest, even the ones a lot of people do not consider sensitive. She has been able to successfully keep her age, date of birth and everything that has to do with her family background and early life away from the public domain. This is quite unusual because most celebrities do not consider those to be sensitive. Although the actress has kept personal information about herself secret, she readily shares her experiences with sexual abuse. Refilwe Madumo does not shy away from speaking about that aspect of her life. Besides her “near rape” experience, Madumo reflects on an experience she had at the house of her friend. She said when she spent the night at this friend’s house, she woke up in the middle of the night to someone trying to touch her private parts through her underwear. She says when the person realized she was awake, he ran away. Refilwe Madumo says she feels bad that she could not tell who it was, but tells the story because she knows there is almost no woman in South Africa that has not faced one form of abuse or the other. She says she has decided to always speak about it to encourage other women and girls who do not have the courage to speak up against their sexual harassers. She hopes that they do so because as long as women are silent, harassers will persist. Refilwe Madumo is a passionate actress notable for her skills in fitting into characters. Aside from acting, she is also involved in theater productions and writing stories. Her inspiration for writing was born out of the passion to see the story of her people told accurately. According to the actress, over the years, other people have taken up the responsibility of telling the South African story and they tell it in such a way that suits them which is most of the time, from the wrong perspective. In July 2021, when Pearl Thusi tweeted what seemed like an open letter to the South African Minister of Culture on the state of the South African entertainers in the COVID-19 era, Refilwe Madumo lent her voice to the outcry. In the tweet, Thusi stated that struggling artists in the country needed help and that just as the minister is generous with congratulatory and condolence messages, he also needs to be generous with actual money. Madumo added that the minister said people think artists don’t need help because they think they will buy Gucci, but in the actual sense, a lot of artists in South Africa are struggling and the COVID-19 pandemic has not helped matters in any way.
Refilwe Madumo’s Life And Entertainment Career So Far Can Be Summed Up In These 10 Facts
1. Refilwe Is A Feminist
2. Refilwe Madumo is a Mother of Two
3. Refilwe Madumo Runs a YouTube Channel And Blog Where She Shares Her Experience on Motherhood
4. The Actress Had A “Near Rape” Experience In Front Of Her Kids
5. She Has Plans Of Hosting A TV Talk Show On The Menace Of Women Abuse
6. Refilwe Madumo Is A Married Woman And Met Her Husband Through Mutual Friends
7. The Scandal! Actress Withholds Information About Her Family From The Public
8. She Encourages Women To Speak Up On Issues Of Sexual Abuse
9. Actress Refilwe Madumo is Also A Story Writer
10. She Uses Her Platform To Share How Artists In South Africa Need Help
