PICS: Inside Hope Mbhele’s star-studded Umemulo

Actress Hope Mbhele celebrated her Umemulo in her hometown, Mtwalume in KwaZulu-Natal, this past weekend.

Hope is popularly known for her lead role on Showmax’s hit telenovela Umkhokha. She took to Instagram to give fans a sneak peek inside her special ceremony.

Umemulo is coming of age, a ceremony that marks a girl’s transition into womanhood.

According to the Ulwazi Programme, Umemulo is traditionally centered around the idea that a girl has maintained her virginity until she’s ready to find a long-term partner.

However, in some cases, women celebrate their Umemolo much older and after they have lost their virginity.

Hope posted a series of pictures showing off her guests. She also shared that her outfit for the day was put together by singer and actress Nelisiwe Sibiya.

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A look inside hope’s Umemulo

One of the guests, Minnie Dlamini, said she was proud to welcome the actress into womanhood as a proud Zulu woman.

She added: “@hope_mbhele I saw you for the first time, and I knew you would be a star 🌟 You acted in my first two films as my lead, and you’ve gone on to do some incredible work!!!

“You have made all of us so proud, and I know you will continue to do so. To uBab’Dlamini and your beautiful mom, thank you for the hospitality and for welcoming my family to your beautiful home.”

Scoring Umkhokha role

Hope previously opened up to Sunday World about bagging a lead role on Umkhokha. She said the role was one of her big breaks after attending a lot of auditions. She said her religion and culture has helped her bring her character on the show to life.

“I used to attend the Royal Reed dance, and I am a religion-orientated and a cultural girl, so playing my role has made tapping into my role a bit easier,” she told the publication.

She also shared that she started her journey in the acting industry as an extra back in 2016.

“I started my acting career when I was an extra on Uzalo in 2016, thereafter, I did a lot of auditions and scored myself a lead role on a Showmax movie titled Goodbye Gogo.” 

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