COVER: 13 Years of Minnie Dlamini, a Time of Re-Identifying Herself
TV personality star and entrepreneur Minnie Dlamini celebrates 13 years of a lucrative media career this year. But more than just a career, Minnie has seen 13 years of life lessons that have shaped the woman and mother that she is today.
Not only has she solidified her presence as a prominent presenter and host but Minnie has established herself as a prolific businesswoman and actress. The 13 years of Minnie Dlamini have presented growth and maturity for the young woman.
And like the angel number 13 which represents a cycle of endings and rebirth, Minnie’s life – especially in the last three years – has marked significant endings and beginnings, she shares.
These range from her losing her brother, the ending of her lifestyle/soccer show Homeground after five years of airing to her marriage. But in the same breath, her journey also presented beginnings like her first film acting gig and her continuous hosting of massive shows like tomorrow’s inaugural FNB Pop Opera Concert.
Her journey has been adorned with lessons that have prepared her for this new journey.
“13 years of this career and it still feels like it was yesterday. Right now, it feels absolutely new. I feel exactly how I felt when I first set foot in those Urban Brew studios and I saw my name. I’ve always been so hungry and thirsty in this game and I have enjoyed being on this journey. Setting new challenges and tasks for myself to accomplish,” she said.
Minnie was introduced to Mzansi after she won SABC 1’s Live Amp presenter search in 2010, and since then has appeared on various stages and even flexed her acting skills on the small screen. But even before TV, she admits that everything about her life was leading her to the entertainment industry, even with her parents enrolling her in a speech and drama class at an early age.
The dream was realised at the age of 19-years-old and since then, the star has practically grown right in front of Mzansi. But with zero forced plan to reinvent herself constantly, her natural progression into her adulthood afforded her numerous natural revamps that led her to where she is now.
“(This part of my journey) has a new meaning for me. Before, I would set a goal and I would want to achieve it from one thing to the next. And it was all for me and what I wanted. But now I have a son and it’s all about him. I’m trying to build a career that he can be proud of and I’ve got big shoes to fill if I want to be someone in this world,” she said.
And with change comes discomfort that many have crumbled under. But not Minnie, consistently rising to any occasion. But mental health, for her, has meant re-identifying herself to herself. (sic)
“All these changes that have happened in my life from losing my brother and trying to make sense of the grief, to falling pregnant, to lockdown then giving birth during that anomaly of a time. I’m a mom now and my perspective on life is different and the changes that come with that are a completely different mind shift.
“So mental health for me has been trying to navigate who I am now, without all of these things that I had that were my identity before,” adding that generally she is in a great space.
“We don’t give enough credit to the stages that we go through in life and how tragic the loss of yourself is,” she said.
And that journey is a continuous one, as she is still trying to figure herself out.
“But it’s about asking myself real questions like ‘do I want to do this’ without worrying what anyone else will say. It’s just about getting to a point of making decisions that are truly for myself for the first time in a very long time.”
So it is safe to say that Minnie Dlamini is in the business of doing her right now. That lazer focus has earned her her first award nomination in acting for Best Supporting Actress in Film – The Honeymoon.
“I’ve always said that I wanted to do a movie and what was really special is that Bianca Isaac, who wrote and directed the movie, always said she wrote the character for me. At that time, I thought it was daunting because I was nowhere near having kids. At the time when I started developing the character, a character that was in a 10 year marriage that was not spicey any more and became monotonous, I didn’t even understand what that was. I had no reference in terms of my own experience. But by the time we started shooting, there were so many things that I was going through that Lu was going through. In terms of finding herself again, redefining and tapping into things that she loved again that marriage held her back from. So that’s what drew me to the character.
“Shooting for television and for film presented so many differences as well. For a film, there’s so much time to do certain things. Television has time but there isn’t much as well, and the targets are more tighter. Film, you are given more time to sink your teeth into a character a little bit more,” she said.
And about the FNB Pop Opera Concert, it is her ability to command a crowd and to host such a musical experience that makes tomorrow’s show exciting.
“The FNB Opera marries so many of my loves. From my late younger brother, who used to play at the Durban City Orchestra and how he used to drag me to all of these orchestras to my love for music. So to be able to host an event like this and merge that sound that I hold so dear in my heart with the biggest acts in the country to connect and vibe together is an experience I look forward to.
And that is her story, fighting consistently for what she believes in to build an empire her son can be proud of.
“I’m at a point in my life where I know what my journey is and I know what my goals are – and I go for them. Anything that happens in between, whether someone sees it as inspirational or someone has a say on it, I am living out my dreams,” she said.
