Born and raised on the South Coast, Dinga Mpiti has known from a young age that the performing arts is his passion.

“I was drawn into it from pre-primary, my sister Rondo and I were definitely the performance duo.”

Dinga attended Margate Primary in his younger years then Port Shepstone High School.

He credits his Grade 6 teacher Samantha Fraser and his high school drama teacher Lynne Raymond for helping motivate him to pursue his love for the performing arts, and seeing Rondo perform at the Grahamstown Arts Festival motivated him even more.

Dinga is now a second year student studying dramatic arts and theatre at the University of the Free State and has recently made his first on screen appearance in the Mzansi Magic short film Molamu: The Fighting Stick.

“I was very nervous when auditioning because it is a Sotho film, it’s filmed in the Free State and I can’t speak Sotho. I asked my friends to help me,” he added.

When I got the email confirming my role, I was extremely happy but it only sunk in the day before I started filming.”

Filmed in Bloemfontein and Qwa Qwa, the film tells the story of a grief-stricken teenage boy who learns the art of Basotho stick fighting from his grandfather.

Portraying the antagonist Sbu Baloyi, Dinga says filming was an amazing experience although it differs from live theatre where you only have one shot whereas with filming there are three takes.

Aside from acting, Dinga aspires to one day become a creative director and wants to film content on the South Coast.

“As someone who is going to major in film, I’d love to tell stories of the South Coast, it’s an incredible location and there is so much talent”.

Dinga is also launching a fashion label soon.

He also plans on working on a short virtual film during the holidays.

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