Rebelle Management Signs Award-Winning Actress and Producer Zikhona Sodlaka
The SAFTA-winning Gqeberha: The Empire star joins Rebelle Management's Film and Television roster as she expands into producing and brand partnerships.
NATIONWIDE, South Africa (03 July 2026). Rebelle Management today announced the signing of acclaimed South African actress and producer Zikhona Sodlaka to its Film and Television roster. The partnership brings one of the country's most decorated screen talents under the agency's representation as she expands her work across acting, producing, and brand collaboration.
Sodlaka is among South Africa's most respected performers, with a career spanning two decades and a body of work that reaches audiences across the continent. She won the Golden Horn for Best Actress in a Telenovela at the 18th South African Film and Television Awards for her role as Bulelwa “Bullet” Mxenge in Gqeberha: The Empire, a performance that also earned her Outstanding Lead Actress at the 2024 Royal Soapie Awards. Her portrayal of Mandisa in the Showmax hit The Wife drew national attention and a National Film and Television Award, and her stage work in Nongogo earned a Naledi Theatre Award for Best Lead Performance.
Her screen credits include Tsha Tsha, Igazi, Generations, The Wife, Blood & Water, and the feature film Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, in which she played Nosekeni, the mother of Nelson Mandela. Beyond performing, Sodlaka is the founder of Zikhona Sodlaka Productions, through which she develops and produces stories rooted in authentic South African life.
Born in Mthatha in the Eastern Cape and raised in KwaZulu-Natal, Sodlaka built her reputation on range, playing characters that span soapies, telenovelas, film, and the stage. She first reached national audiences in the SABC1 drama Tsha Tsha, whose fourth season earned an Emmy nomination for Best Foreign Language Drama, and went on to become a fixture of South African screens over the years that followed.
“Zikhona is a generational talent and an avid businesswoman, and that combination is exactly who we built Rebelle to represent,” said Tanisha Colon-Bibb, Founder of Rebelle Management. “Our job is to make sure the next phase of her career, on screen and behind the camera, is positioned with the ambition it deserves.”
In 2025, she marked twenty years in the industry, and she chose to spend the milestone giving back. She launched a nationwide acting masterclass tour, beginning in her home province of the Eastern Cape, aimed at mentoring and uplifting the next generation of South African creatives. That instinct to invest in others also runs through the Zikhona Sodlaka Foundation, her charitable initiative supporting people in need.
Today she works as an actress, a producer, and a businesswoman. Through Zikhona Sodlaka Productions, she is developing original work that tells stories reflecting real South African lives, with the goal of creating the kind of roles and projects she has always wanted to see, and starring in some of them herself.
“Rebelle understood my vision from the first conversation, both as an actor and as a producer. It takes a trained eye with a bold take on success to take on talent such as myslef. I'm ready for what comes next, and this is the right team to build it with.”
The signing reflects Rebelle Management's focus on representing established and emerging talent across Music, Film, and Television, and Media, and comes as the agency expands internationally, building a roster that connects African talent with audiences and opportunities around the world.
For media inquiries, contact zikhonasodlaka@rebellemgmt.com. Follow Zikhona Sodlaka on Instagram and X @zikhonasodlaka.
About Rebelle Management
Rebelle Management is a talent management company representing actors, musicians, and creators across South Africa and the United States. Its South Africa office champions local talent and their global impact, with a roster that includes Kim Jayde, Prince Grootboom (180, Fatal Seduction), Lunathi Mampofu (The River, Inimba), Nox Dlamini (G20, Sarafina), and Filah Lah Lah.
Find more info at rebellemgmt.com/sa-talent.
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