by Thinus Ferreira
The South Africa actor, scriptwriter, director and producer Mutodi Neshehe has died from Covid-19. He was 46.
Mutodi Neshehe's cause of death is not immediately known although his sudden and untimely death came as South Africa was battling a surge of thousands of new Covid-19 cases as part of a third wave of the global coronavirus pandemic, and he was struggling to breathe the past few days.
"With great sadness, we announce the passing of Mutodi Neshehe on 1 July 2021. He was our brother, uncle, father, mentor, role model and actor. He will be greatly missed by his family and close friend," the family said on a statement on Thursday.
Born in Soweto in 1975, Mutodi Neshehe started acting when he was 4 years old and went to the United States when he was 14.
After 15 years in America, Mutodi Neshehe returned home to South Africa in 2004 and from this period on he appeared in several South African films and TV shows.
Mutodi Neshehe was seen in SABC1's Generations as Karabo Moroka's second husband Zola, SABC2's Muvhango in the role of the original Ndalamo Mukwevho, was Carter in SABC2's 7de Laan, and appeared in M-Net's Jacob's Cross and Egoli, SABC2's Skwizas, the drama series One Way, the ITV drama series Wild at Heart, as well as SABC2's Mamello.
Roles in The Queen and Zaziwa also followed.
Mutodi Neshehe was one of the celebrity dancers who were selected to take part in SABC2's 4th season of Strictly Come Dancing.
In 2016 Mutodi Neshehe appeared in Rockville on Mzansi Magic (DStv 161). In 2017 he was Rendi in e.tv's Broken Vows, and later the same year played Mandla in e.tv's Harvest drama series.
In films, he appeared in 5 movies with Darrell Roodt as director, including Windrider (1985), Lullaby (2007), Winnie Mandela (2011), Stealing Time (2011) and as Detective Morena in Little One (2012).
Other films in which Mutodi Neshehe appeared include Southern Cross (2008), Elelwani (2011), as well as Two Choices (2012), the made-for-TV movie Rise (2015), and 2016's Happiness is a Four-Letter Word.
Mutodi Neshehe started his own production company, Mutodi Films and Alexis Consulting Solutions, a consulting company that specialises in team building, immigration consulting, business consulting and event management.
Mutodi Neshehe's turbulent and scandal-filled personal life became tabloid fodder over the past few years with lurid reports of alleged infidelity that led to divorce court proceedings with his US-born, life coach wife Leslee Dalton-Neshehe since they became estranged in June 2017.
On 25 June Leslee wrote on Facebook that "It has been touch and go with Mutodi. He has moments when he will seem a bit better and then it gets worse again. They tried to put him in hospital yesterday but he wants to do his best to stay out of it if possible since the hospitals are overflowing here at the moment".
"American friends, please say a prayer for us here in South Africa. The 3rd wave is hitting much harder than the first two waves. I pray for protection, safety and good health for all of us."
The SABC in a press statement on Friday said that "The SABC has learnt with sadness of the untimely passing of actor and businessman, Mutodi Neshehe
on 1 July 2021. He will be missed for his professionalism,
dedication, and commitment to the craft.
Mutodi Neshehe leaves behind two daughters, Alexis and Sadee.
