By Rorisang Modiba
- Baby Cele, Dumisani Dlamini, Dieketseng Mnisi and Nhlanhla Ngema return to the Market Theatre in Johannesburg from 19 to 21 June 2026, where Sarafina! first opened in 1987.
- Leleti Khumalo, who played Sarafina in the 1992 film, is not part of the reunion. The event is a tribute for the original stage ensemble, who last performed together in 1991.
The cast that first brought Sarafina! to life is coming home.
Baby Cele, Dumisani Dlamini, Dieketseng Mnisi and Nhlanhla Ngema will reunite at the Market Theatre in Johannesburg from 19 to 21 June 2026 for a special 56-minute performance. It is the first time the original stage cast has performed together since their international tour ended in 1991.
They are returning to the place where it all started. Sarafina! premiered at the Market Theatre in 1987, the same venue now celebrating its own 50th anniversary. From Johannesburg, the production moved to Broadway in January 1988 and then toured internationally, carrying the story of the 1976 Soweto Uprising to audiences across the world.
The timing of the reunion lands on a significant year. South Africa this week marked the 50th anniversary of 16 June 1976, when students were shot for refusing to be taught in Afrikaans. Sarafina! was built around that moment and the young people who lived through it.
Performances at Soweto Theatre during this week’s commemorations showed the production has not lost its grip on audiences.
Leleti Khumalo, who played Sarafina in the 1992 film, is not performing at the Market Theatre. The reunion is not a restaging of the full musical. It is a 56-minute ensemble tribute designed to bring together the original stage company, who have not shared a stage since their international tour ended in 1991. Khumalo was the film’s lead, not a member of that stage company.
The film brought Sarafina! to the world. It premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May 1992, opened in the United States in September and reached South African cinemas in October. American actress Whoopi Goldberg starred alongside Khumalo. A resurfaced clip shared by OkayAfrica this week shows Goldberg reflecting on what the experience meant to her.
“That none of the people in South Africa was mad at me for my terrible accent, that is what I am most grateful for,” she said, laughing.
She also spoke about meeting Nelson Mandela during filming.
“It was an extraordinary experience,” she said.
Sport, Arts and Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie used Youth Day to speak directly to young South Africans. He said the generation of 1976 paid with their lives so that those who followed could pursue their dreams without discrimination. Then he said something harder.
“The truth is that we so easily tell young people to follow their dreams, to find a job, to make something of their lives but reality out here is difficult,” McKenzie said.
The stage at the Market Theatre this weekend carries both parts of that truth.
Pictured above: Playwright Mbongeni Ngema’s younger brother, Nhlanhla Ngema who was part of the original stage cast of Sarafina.
Image source: Nhlanhla Ngema/ Facebook Page
