{"id":57152,"date":"2026-04-24T22:45:06","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T22:45:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/?p=57152"},"modified":"2026-04-24T22:45:06","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T22:45:06","slug":"utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignbritish-actress-cynthia-erivo-cast-as-miriam-makeba-sparks-debate-among-south-africans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/2026\/04\/24\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignbritish-actress-cynthia-erivo-cast-as-miriam-makeba-sparks-debate-among-south-africans\/","title":{"rendered":"British actress Cynthia Erivo cast as Miriam Makeba sparks debate among South Africans"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"mvp-content-main\">&#13;<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_190724\" style=\"width: 610px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-190724\" class=\"wp-image-190724 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/British-actress-Cynthia-Erivo-cast-as-Miriam-Makeba-sparks-debate.jpg?resize=600%2C369&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"369\" srcset=\"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/British-actress-Cynthia-Erivo-cast-as-Miriam-Makeba-sparks-debate.jpg 600w, https:\/\/fakazanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Cynthia-Erivo-Miriam-Makeba-300x185.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-190724\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cynthia Erivo to play Mirima Makeba in upcoming film<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Cynthia Erivo is set to take on the role of iconic South African singer and activist Miriam Makeba in an upcoming film.<\/p>\n<p>The news was confirmed by entertainment commentator Jabu MacDonald, who revealed that the project, titled <em>The Road Home<\/em>, is a major production backed by StudioCanal and MultiChoice with a reported budget of R300 million.<\/p>\n<p>Filming is expected to begin in June 2026 in Cape Town.<\/p>\n<p>According to MacDonald, Thabo Rametsi has been cast as jazz legend Hugh Masekela, while Guy Pearce will portray Archbishop Trevor Huddleston.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA R300 million StudioCanal and MultiChoice film is in the works, titled \u2018The Road Home\u2019 with Cynthia Erivo set to play Miriam Makeba and Thabo Rametsi as Hugh Masekela. Filming is set to begin in June 2026 in Cape Town,\u201d the post read.<\/p>\n<p>While the announcement generated excitement for the high-profile production, it also sparked criticism from some South Africans who questioned why a local actress was not chosen to portray \u201cMama Afrika.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Social media users quickly began suggesting alternative names they felt would better represent the role.<\/p>\n<p>One user wrote: \u201cThuso Mbedu\/ King Tha\/Zolani Mahola\/ Bonnie Mbuli\/ Simphiwe Dana.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Another added: \u201cCynthia Erivo is absolutely incredible, and what she did on the Aretha Franklin biopic speaks volumes about her ability\u2026 BUT\u2026 Zo\u00eb Modiga is the ONLY person that should be playing Mama Afrika.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">A R300 million StudioCanal and MultiChoice film is in the works, titled \u2018The Road Home\u2019 with Cynthia Erivo set to play Miriam Makeba and Thabo Rametsi as Hugh Masekela.<\/p>\n<p>Filming is set to begin in June 2026 in Cape Town. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/J1IwmGfUsi\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/J1IwmGfUsi<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Jabulani Macdonald \u26a1\ufe0f (@Jabu_Macdonald) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Jabu_Macdonald\/status\/2047582841358172625?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">April 24, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><!-- CONTENT END 4 -->\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n#British #actress #Cynthia #Erivo #cast #Miriam #Makeba #sparks #debate #among #South #Africans<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#13; Cynthia Erivo to play Mirima Makeba in upcoming film Cynthia Erivo is set to take on the role of&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":57153,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-57152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mzansi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57152"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57152\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57154,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57152\/revisions\/57154"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57153"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}