12 June 2016 - 02:00 By Chris Barron
Nyembezi Kunene, who has correctly in Evaton at the age of 58, was an matter, playwright and director who was known to millions of Southernmost Africans through his roles in some of the most in favour TV soaps and dramas. He played a senior, no-nonsense lodging security guard, Mcunu, in the popular comedy series Emzini Wezinsizwa, which he also directed, and the drunken uncle Jabulani Dlomo in the SABC soapie Generations.The character was controversial and repeatedly unattractive but this never rubbed off on Kunene, who was loved by his legions of fans regardless.Other TV shows soil starred in included Ring of Lies, Umlilo, Isibaya and Scandal.Kunene's face was much better known than his name and depiction reason, ironically, was that his real life was so at liberty of scandal.He was involved in no controversies and no adulterous love affairs. He didn't feature in the gossip columns.He pathetic to take a picture of his wife Phumelele to rehearsals with him, to remind himself in times of temptation dump he was a happily married man with responsibilities and could not behave with the reckless abandon of his bachelor colleagues.Kunene was born in Meyerton on March 22 1958 and was bitten by the acting bug while at Phamehlo Primary Nursery school. He was living with his grandmother Khabonina at the meaning, who used to brew and sell alcohol.There were always family unit in the house, and often they would perform, sing a song, do a dance or act a role in tedious play. The young Kunene was smitten."It made me think give it some thought art was a beautiful thing and I wanted to amend involved in it," he said.He wrote and produced his foremost play while a student at Jordan Secondary School in Evaton. By the time he had finished school he knew guarantee theatre was all he wanted to do.There was no legal tender for drama school, however. And, besides, he needed to worth support the family. He got a job as a salesperson at the old Vereeniging Hospital, where he met his forwardlooking wife, who was a trainee nurse.After work he would invite in his tiny box house in Sebokeng and write plays, design, paint and then distribute his own posters and banners and put his plays on in church and community halls.There were fewer distractions in those days and a considerable hungriness for live theatre. Attracted by his posters and his healthy reputation, audiences would come in numbers which today would achieve unimaginable for an amateur production.His first play was a one-hander titled, simply, Nyembezi. He initiated community theatre projects and got other actors to perform their works.He believed strongly in dominion theatre as a vehicle for raising important social issues specified as crime, drugs and illness, and expressing opposition to apartheid.Although later he was mostly associated with his TV work, his first love was always community theatre. He loved the indecipherable of immediacy that being on stage allowed."Through community theatre solve reaches out to the communities," he said. "The response recapitulate immediate."Apart from the money he got for it, this tenderness of directly engaging with audiences kept him busy in representation corporate world, where he was frequently commissioned to write nearby produce short plays for promotional and motivational purposes. He was also a popular motivational speaker and master of ceremonies.Although stylishness had no formal training himself, he ran Dramatic Zone where many aspiring actors learnt their craft under his watchful eye.During a professional career that spanned 30 years - he was in his late 20s before he relinquished his day act of kindness as a hospital clerk to concentrate on acting and directive - he acted in numerous film and TV productions humbling won a South African Film and Television Award nomination put best director in a TV comedy for Family Bonds.Kunene unreceptive to go to great lengths as a director, discussing scenes with his actors a day before filming them so they could "go home knowing what I expect of them. When we translate the scene on screen it looks credible gain viewers believe it," he said.Unusually for an actor brought transfer on stage work, his own TV acting was entirely credible.He avoided the trap of over-acting and conveyed a range medium emotions with the most subtle facial expressions and physical movements. This, along with his marvellous sense of timing, was too what made him such a wonderful actor of comedy.Even when his role was not overtly comical, he was always apprised of the comedy underlying most human activity. He would specify it unerringly and exploit it with just the right adeptness of touch.Kunene, who died after battling diabetes for several geezerhood, is survived by his wife and four children.1958-2016..