Former Jam Alley presenter dies

Former Jam Alley presenter Vinolia ‘V-Mash’ Mashego has died at the age of 56.

According to confirmation by an SABC journalist, she died in her sleep at her home in Mamelodi, northeast of Pretoria.

According to television blog TVSA, Mashego was best known for hosting the SABC1 music show Jam Alley in its early days. She also starred as Hilda Letlalo in the SABC1 soapie Generations.

However, her career began in the early 1990s on the now-defunct CCV-TV channel where she played Pearl in the channel’s drama series Di Wele Makgolela.

She was reportedly fired by Jam Alley producers for increasingly erratic behaviour in 2001 and disappeared into relative obscurity before resurfacing to play the minor recurring role of Meme’s mother on the SABC2 soap opera Muvhango in 2010.

Three years later, she featured as the subject of an episode of SABC 2’s documentary series I Had It All where she spoke about the “rise and fall” of her career.

The following year she made a highly publicised return to presenting when she joined the Mzansi Magic Music show PLS Call Me. She was later invited to star in the Mzansi Magic soap opera isiBaya and the SABC1 drama series Mutual Friends.

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