If you missed her on the local drama series, Morwalela, be sure to catch the beautiful and talented South Africa-based Motswana actress, Neo Mahloane, on season three of Tshisa, a South African production, boasting a 5.5 million viewership, making it the third most watched program in South Africa.
Born and raised on the streets of Lobatse, Neo can confidently claim the 2012 title of being the ‘It girl’. She identifies herself as a South African and a Motswana mainly because her grandmother is from South Africa and she spends a lot of time travelling between the two countries.
It has been that way since her school going days; she did her primary school in Gaborone at Thornhill Primary and proceeded to high school in Grahamstown.
Do not be fooled by her good looks because she is not just a pretty face since she went on to get a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Rhodes University, also in Grahamstown.
A lot of people in the entertainment industry like being described as being down to earth, approachable and easy going. However, very few fit this description. Neo’s delicate features and her soft spoken nature are part of the ingredients that give her ‘The girl next door’ attributes she possesses, which is rare for people in her industry. A beautiful face and a great body to go with it is the case with Neo.
She claims that she has not been to the gym in over 5 years and that she owes her hot body to yoga classes, which she takes when she is in Johannesburg.
Neo explains that she is content with being just an actress for now but has ambitions to be a writer, producer and director one day.
“I shot my very first advertisement here in Gaborone for clothing boutique, Queenspark, at around the age of 18,” she said, adding that since then, she has never looked back.
Regarding her best work to date, Neo explained that her favourite productions are Tshisa and, of course, Morwalela, mainly because it was shot here in Gaborone, along with a series she shot in Cape Town, which she says was awesome because it was an HBO project, which afforded her a glimpse of how big budget productions operate.
HBO (Home Box Office) is an American premium cable network, which produces television shows and movies.
Having her life in the palm of her hands is no longer just a metaphor for Neo but rather a reality because her mobile phone is her life and she claims it is the one thing she would never leave home without.
She admits that there are perks to being a renowned actress because she gets invited to glitzy and glamorous events and gets a lot of freebies. There, however, is a downside that fans tend to forget that after the show they become like normal human beings and can end up making nasty insensitive and hurtful remarks based on a character she played in a show.
Being entertainers runs in the Mahloane family since she is the younger sister to the local R n B sensation Stagga who is in the music industry.
The single men out there will be glad to know that Neo claims to be very single as well and would not mind being with someone “Fantastic and unconditionally kind”.
Neo states that she loves being in Gaborone.
“Gaborone is a very comfortable place. I miss that a lot when I am working abroad.”
QUICK PROFILE
Full Names: Neo Naledi, Ruby Mary Mahloane
Favourite food: Samp and Beans
Favourite City: London
Likes most about people: Resilience
Dislikes most about people: Unkindness
