by Thinus Ferreira
The acclaimed writer, producer and director Teboho Mahlatsi who was a co-creator of the hit SABC series Yizo Yizo and who was a company director at Bomb Productions has died. He was 49.
In a statement, the Mahlatsi family says "It is with saddest regret that we announce the untimely passing of filmmaker and producer Teboho Moseling Mahlatsi on 3 July 2023".
"In lieu of personal condolences, the family kindly requests prayers and that they be given privacy to mourn and come to terms with the tragic loss."
Teboho Mahlatsi's cause of death is not yet known. He leaves behind his wife Palesa, son Kanu (11) and daughter (6).
Born in 1974, Teboho Mahlatsi completed the Africa Cultural Centre's Film & Television Course in 1993 after which he worked for 5 years as a young screenwriter.
Teboho Mahlatsi wrote, produced and directed numerous projects, including the documentary Ghetto Diaries for the SABC's SABC Education division and became a sought-after TV commercial director.
He was a co-creator of the controversial and highly-popular Yizo Yizo youth-centred drama series which ran for three seasons on SABC1, and his first short film, Portrait of a Young Man Drowning won the Silver Lion award at the Venice Film Festival in 1999.
In 2000 he completed the TV series Ungshaya Ding Dong.
Teboho Mahlatsi who was a company co-director at Bomb Productions, responsible for MultiChoice and Mzansi Magic's (DStv 161) Shaka iLembe, directed numerous music videos and he also produced A-Z: A Commentary on post-Apartheid South Africa in 2001, as well as Meokgo and the Stick Fighter (Sekalli le Meokgo) in 2006.
Other works from Teboho Mahlatsi include Meet South Africa. Meet Bheki: The Mbhaco Maker (2017), Shuga (2019 - 2012), as well as White City, Black Lives (1997).
Teboho Mahlatsi was a writer on Isibaya on Mzansi Magic between 2014 and 2016, was the developer and creator of the 2006 series Angel's Song and produced Ayeye.
Teboho Mahlatsi was a producer of the TV series Jacob's Cross, executive produced the TV miniseries Think BIG, executive produced and directed the 2016 film For Love and Broken Bones, and executive produced the 2019 film Back of the Moon.
Teboho Mahlatsi was also a director on Queen Sono, Netflix's first African Original series.
Besides being a director at Bomb Productions, he focused efforts the past two years on producing personal movies through his own company, Moseling Films.
Speaking at a TedXSoweto event in 2010, Teboho Mahlatsi said that "The reason I do film is first and foremost because I'm a fan of cinema. Like a typical township kid I fell in love with cinema from going to the bioscope which was in a small community hall with an old projector".
"My first memory of cinema is Clint Eastwood walking across the desert and his mouth is covered in sores. To this day, Westerns are still my favourite genre and many years later I got to make my own Western."
"I went to Lesotho - my family's from there, my grandparents are from there. It made perfect sense. They're already on horseback, they're wearing blankets, and instead of guns, I'll use sticks. So I went to Lesotho and did this film Stick Fighter."
"I don't consider myself an African filmmaker. Yes I was born here, I live here, but I just consider myself a filmmaker." He said: "I want to make films for that kid who went to the bioscope like I did."
Mzansi Magic tells TVwithThinus that "Mzansi
Magic extends its heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of visionary
creative, Teboho Mahlatsi, who made an immense contribution to the South
African film and television industry. He was a remarkable talent, and he will
be deeply missed".
