Kaunda Selisho

By Kaunda Selisho

Journalist


From Onlyfans to Muvhango – the rise of Tebogo Thobejane

What began as a career of making appearances at night clubs has turned into a role on one of South Africa's biggest soapies for Tebogo Thobejane.


Muvhango’s latest casting announcement has gotten tongues wagging and for all the wrong reasons. Despite this, the masses are dying to know all about the woman behind the role of Belinda, Tebogo Thobejane.

Thobejane is no stranger to avid social media users as she has amassed a whopping 347,000 Instagram followers over the years.

She was first introduced to the public as Faith Nkesti’s bestie, business partner and mentor of sorts back when the two founded Feline Model Management.

Faith Nketsi and Tebogo Thobejane during happier times | Picture: Instagram

Sadly, the pair have since had a falling out and are no longer in each others’ lives.

She briefly continued the management business before moving on to other business ventures such as selling waist training belts and other items.

Thobejane probably got her entrepreneurial spirit from her late father, Obed Thobejane, who is reported to have co-founded iconic South African hair brand. However, he is not listed in any previous articles citing Mashaba’s retelling of how the company came to be.

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In 2020, Thobejane found herself having to venture into the Onlyfans business as lockdown affected her other streams of income which relied heavily on travel and the entertainment industry.

Within a few weeks, she had made it to top-earning percentile of the website which put her earnings over an estimated amount of over $7,000 per month – more than R106,000 per month.

At the time of writing, her Onlyfans profile was still active with a $17 (R260) subscription fee.

 

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A post shared by Tebogo Thobejane (@tebogocthobejane)

For months, she divided her time between raising her son, selling her waist trainers and recruiting Onlyfans creators as a way to earn additional income through the website’s referral programme. This would entitle her to up to 5% of the earnings made by creators who signed up to the platform using her referral code – over and above what she was already earning as a creator.

Since taking up her new role on the SABC 2 soapie, it has been revealed that Thobejane holds a BA in Film. A fact that surprised people who had assumed, solely based on her Instagram popularity, that she was merely a “slay queen.”

Although she trained as a producer and not necessarily an actress, Thobejane will be playing a wedding planner named Belinda Mofokeng on the show.

 

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A post shared by Tebogo Thobejane (@tebogocthobejane)

It is this lack of training as an actress that got fans talking about the casting. For years, social media users have joked that Muvhango casting directors prioritise looks (namely curvy bodies) over acting ability.

Muvhango airs on SABC 2, DStv channel 192, weekdays at 9 pm.

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