The spotlight on... Minnie Dlamini

By ZAlebs on 21 October 2015 at 11:33 · Comments

TV personality Minnie Dlamini is one of SA’s most loved entertainers, but just how did this KwaZulu-Natal girl become a household name?

21 October 2015

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Minnie Dlamini describes herself as South Africa’s diamond.

The 25-year-old is always in-demand and has graced the covers of Grazia, True Love, and Drum magazine, and even made an appearance at the 2015 BET Awards!

Let's find out more about her...

The basics…

Full name: Minenhle “Minnie” Dlamini

Birthday: 7 July, 1990

Place of birth: Durban, South Africa

What does she do? TV presenter, actress, MC

So, who is Minnie?

Minnie’s rise to fame began in 2010 when she entered SABC1’s Live (now LIVE AMP) presenter search. She beat 8,000 hopefuls to be crowned the winner.

Minnie would learn from the best as the show was being hosted by Bonang Matheba at the time. While Bonang cast a big shadow, the 25-year-old held her own. She honed her presenting skills on the show before moving on to become a presenter on SABC1’s Mzansi Insider. She also bagged a role on South Africa’s popular soapie, Generations.

By 2013, Minnie had added radio host to her credentials and had won the hearts of South Africa, but not everyone was pleased with her quick rise to fame. A letter written by a “regular Mzansi Magic and Sabc1 viewer” went viral. In the letter, Karabo Mothibi questioned how Minnie was able to stumble on jobs so easily when she was “a bad Television Presenter, bad MC Host, bad Radio Presenter, and a baaaaaad ‘ACTRESS’”. He also slammed the Soccerzone co-host’s rude and poor treatment of fans.

Read: Karabo Mothibi's Open Letter to Minnie Dlamini

Despite the criticism, Minnie continues to be a fan favourite. She has over 1-million followers on Twitter and more than 580 000 followers on Instagram.

Minnie’s love life has been a much talked about subject. She dated Kaizer Chiefs goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune on-and-off from 2010 before they called it quits in 2014. Their romance was splashed across tabloids. There were rumours that Minnie’s family wanted R1-million lobola from Itumeleng for her hand in marriage.

Her search for lasting love continues.

Read: Minnie Dlamini opens up about Itumeleng Khune

Other credits: Turn It Out 2 (judge), Rockville (supporting actress), 2015 Metro FM Music Awards (co-host), The Wild (lead actress).

What Minnie has said…

About her relationship with Itumeleng (Grazia): “We were under too much pressure to stay together because it’s what people wanted… I feel like people need to get to a point where they realise it’s done and that Itumeleng and I are happy in our separate lives. I plead with South Africans to please let it go and move past it, like we have.”

About her plans for the rest of 2015 (Elle): “Fingers crossed, I will be acting again. And a big focus for me is my Minnie Dlamini Foundation, which aims at uplifting young women in education as well as improving the quality of schools in rural areas in terms of facilities such as desks, blackboards, labs and sports grounds.”

On her alleged beef with Bonang (Grazia): "I want people to know that I don't like talking about other personalities in the industry. That being said, Bonang and I are one hundred percent not friends. However, we're not enemies either and I respect her as a colleague.”

Her best advice (Oprah Magazine): “My parents taught me to stay true to myself and never compromise on my values.”