Transgender Celebrities In South Africa

Every year on the 31st of March, the world celebrates International Transgender Day of Visibility, a day dedicated to celebrating transgender people and promoting awareness about the transgender community.

In a nutshell, a transgender person can be described as a person who doesn’t identify with the gender that they were assigned at birth.

Although Africa in general, is still not very accepting of transgender people, South Africa is the most friendly country to the LGBTQ community. As a transgender person living in South Africa, all one can get is perhaps a few unwarranted stares. 

Here are some transgender celebrities from South Africa that you need to know about.

Tholang  Motsumi is one of the most popular transgender celebrities in South Africa. If you love your television, then you might have seen her on the reality show, The Way Ngingakhona, which is centred around three members of the LGBTQI.

The beautiful, curvaceous Tholang was born in Allanridge in the Free State area and was assigned as male during her birth. 

From a young age, Tholang felt that she was in the wrong body, and so after graduating from high school in 2009, she started her transitioning process.

Her role on TV has helped her gain many fans who love her personality and openness. 

Read also: Namibian celebs who are openly gay

Yaya Mavundla is one of the most vocal activists for transgender rights and is also one of the most renowned transgender celebrities in South Africa.

She is a fashion icon, an organizer of the Mzansi Queer Festival and a reality TV star in the show Becoming. The show is the first one to feature the lives of transgender people in South Africa.

In 2021, the flamboyant Socialite won the Sowetan’s Woman’s Club Trendsetter award for her work as an arts and cultural trendsetter, but this was not her first big award. She was also awarded the Socialite of the Year award at the Feather Awards in 2018.

Read also: Kenyan celebrities who are openly LGBTQ 

Lehlogonolo Machaba is a pageant queen who became the first transgender woman to ever participate in the Miss South Africa competition.

The model told The Times South Africa that her main reason for participating in the most contested pageant in the country was that she wanted to represent the transgender community and have their voices heard.

Although she was not among the finalists, Machaba made a statement just by participating in the competition, and she was among the top 30 finalists.

We are not sure if she will be participating in future competitions, but we really hope that she does as she is one of our favourite transgender celebrities in South Africa.

Read also: Celebs who openly support LGBTQ

Muzi Zuma is a makeup artist, fashion model, and the founder of Makeup By Muzi Academy, and she was also a radio host for UJFM when she was a student at the University of Johannesburg, where she studied architecture. She is also a TV presenter at Moja Love TV.

In a past interview, she disclosed how she lost some clients in her makeup business soon after she started to embrace her feminine side.

Also known as Baby Caramelle, Elle Rose is a South African model and upcoming musician, and one of the few transgender celebrities in South Africa.

She performs in the pop and electronica/ dance genres and has a few songs to her name, including one that is titled ‘Set It Off.’

Besides her work as an artist and model, Elle is also an activist for the rights of the transgender community in South Africa.

Read also: Mzansi's favourite LGBTQ relationships

We are glad that the transgender celebrities on this list are living openly and unapologetically to their truth. We hope that they inspire others who are afraid of living their truth to follow in their footsteps. After all, we only live once, and one lifetime is not enough to live in hiding.