Masechaba Ndlovu Biography: Age, Family, Education, Career, Marriage, Controversy

Masechaba Ndlovu (née Lekalake) is a Zambian-born South African actress, television producer and presenter. The Zambian born celebrity is widely known for the top shows she has presented such as Into Africa, Weekend Live, hosting “One Day Leader” (twice) on SABC1, and Afro Showbiz. Being the go-getter that she is, Masechaba is also the owner as well as the CEO of Masechaba Media.

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There’s more to Masechaba that goes beyond her good looks and taste in fashion. Here’s a biography detailing who this media personality is. 

Masechaba was born on September 10, 1983. She will be turning 37 years in 2020.

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Born to Soweto-born revolutionaries. She spent the first 5 years of her life in Zambia and a few months in Zimbabwe. She then spent a few months with her grandmother while her parents pursued their military training in the former Soviet Union. At the age of 6 she joined her parents in the United States where she lived and studied in Oakland, California for 7 years.

However, Masechaba spoke out about a very personal and traumatic childhood experience, which took place at the hands of an adult that was supposed to “protect her”. She says that her step father molested her when they were living in America. 

She returned to South Africa at the end of 1995, and completed her high school education in the year 2000. Masechaba has always had a passion for media, which she displayed at a tender age, having written children’s short stories that were published in local children’s magazines in the US. She is passionate about social issues, more especially those pertaining to women and children.

Having earned her media studies certificate in which she majored in journalism, video broadcasting and public relations, Masechaba finally got to carry out her formal skills and acquire further knowledge at Urban Brew Studios.

While there, she became studio anchor and video journalist for Into Africa, a travel show on SABC Africa that she co-presented with Hlomla Dandala. The show took her across the continent to Ethiopia, Egypt, Uganda, Ghana, and Nigeria. She was also researcher, content-producer and scriptwriter for the show.

She made her debut as an actress on Generations and in 2003 she got a lead role in the E!TV soapie, Backstage. In 2006, Masechaba pioneered SABC Africa’s entertainment news programme, Afro Showbiz where she was unveiled as the face of the Old Mutual Vukani Fashion Awards at the official press launch. As if that was not enough, she hosted the 2007 Vukani Fashion Awards and the 2007 African Pride Awards.

In 2012  at the Ikusasa Awards Masechaba was nominated for the On Air Personality of the year in TV. In 2013 she began hosting the talk show Eksê: Let’s Talk with Masechaba Lekalake with Tol A$$ Mo and Refilwe Modiselle. Later in 2017 she hosted the National Lilizela Tourism Awards

Masechaba’s first marriage to Mfundo Nditsane sadly did not work out as they hoped it would. During an interview with Pearl Thusi, Masechaba said that they were both still young by then and were not fully prepared for this journey. The couple share a son, Lungelo, and it seems they have done pretty well when it comes to co-parenting.

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In 2015 she married Vusi Ndlovu and changed her name, being credited for the first time as Masechaba Ndlovu when she began hosting the e.tv talk show The Big Debate. Unfortunately, the couple called it quits in 2018, where Vusi also wrote a long message about relationships.

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But the two have stayed on good terms to this day and Masechaba has always been praised for showing maturity in all of this as she always acknowledges the roles that her ex plays in her son’s life.

Like many other celebrities, Masechaba has had her own days when she got dragged because of what she said.

In 2018, Masechaba found herself in hot water after she allegedly put Babes Wodumo’s alleged relationship woes on blast during her Metro FM show. Masechaba had publicly questioned Babes Wodumo on live radio about being abused by Mampintsha and soon she became the hot topic on the twitter streets. The interview ended with Babes in tears and it sparked a national debate about whether Masechaba should’ve addressed the matter in such a public manner. Many thought she was being insensitive and she even received a lot of backlash.

She evn tried to rope in Mo flava when she claimed that he knew she was going to ask the questions she did. However, Mo Flava denied all the claims that were made by Masechaba.

Remember when Lady Zamar aired Sjava’s dirty laundry and said that she was abused by the man? Many celebs found themselves trending at that time and Masechaba was one of them. She had promised to post pics from Sjava #OneManShow and her timing couldn’t have been wrong. Masechaba was dragged for speaking highly of Sjava when he was cancelled by Mzansi and was an alleged abuser. A post which set many Instagram users off was one where she praised Sjava’s stance when it comes to GBV.

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However, Masechaba has since moved on and started an initiative called My Personal Lifeline. A unique product designed to empower people and provide them with some professional help. It can also be used by people who could find themselves in the same predicament.

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Main image credit: Instagram/masechabandlovu