Cont Mhlanga dies

The late Cont Mhlanga at the inaugural Bulawayo Arts Awards

Legendary Zimbabwean actor, playwright and theatre director Cont Mhlanga has died.

The news was confirmed by the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe on Monday.

Last week, the council said, “He has been under constant and close medical supervision since Friday 22 July and is currently stable and responding well to treatment.”

His condition appears to have taken a turn of the worse in the last three days and Mhlanga passed away after 10 days in hospital.

Mhlanga established Amakhosi Theatre in Bulawayo, back in 1982.

In 1995 Amakhosi established the country’s first privately owned cultural centre located within the boundaries of the townships, now popularly known as the Township Square Cultural Center.

He had over 20 plays he wrote, to his name.

Mhlanga was also involved in TV. He produced the popular Amakorokoza and Sinjalo series and wrote Stitsha, a play which was adapted into a series.Mhlanga starred as Mtutureli Niekwu in an anti-apartheid movie A World Apart which was released in 1988.

Mhlanga was a driver in Fairtalk Communications’s successfully bidding for a radio and TV license. This gave birth to Skyz Metro FM and Ke Yona TV.