Letoya Makhene is a South African singer, actress, songwriter, sangoma, and TV personality renowned for acting in SABC’s famous soap operas, Isidingo and Generations. She co-hosted Idols South Africa Season 2 with Colin Moss in the year 2003.
Quick Facts:
| Birth / Full Name: | Letoya Makhene (formerly Mangezi) |
| Date of Birth: | 7 September 1984 |
| Birth Place: | Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa |
| Age: | 42 years |
| Nationality: | South African |
| Parents: | Blondie Makhene (father) |
| Siblings: | Gontse Makhene |
| Spouse(s): | Priviledge Mangezi (divorced in 2014), Lebo Keswa (married 2020) |
| Partner(s): | Tshepo Leeuw |
| Children: | 4 |
Career
Before even hosting Idols SA, Letoya was a contestant herself on the show in its very first season back in 2002. She was in group 8 with Liana Van Zyl, Dalen Jooste, Chad Saaiman and Heinz Winckler (who eventually won Season 1) and almost made it to the finals before she was eliminated.
In 2003, she and Colin Moss were appointed as the new hosts of Idols SA, but she only lasted one season and left her role. After leaving Idols SA, Makhene took an eight-month training course at an initiation school to become a traditional healer (sangoma), but she later put her sangoma duties to one side until she could find a safe place for her practice.
She then began singing at corporate gigs, and in 2014 she joined the cast of SABC1 soap opera Generations after the show went off-air and returned as Generations: The Legacy. She starred in the soapie, and her role was the notorious gangster wife of Kumkanmi Phakade, aka “Gadaffi”.
In 2011, she had a role as Ayanda Diale, who lost her father in the anti-apartheid struggle and was taken in by the Sibeko family, in the SABC3 soap opera Isidingo.
She has also had a starring role as Naledi Zondo in the SABC1 political thriller mystery drama series End Game.
She made appearances in the music industry from the age of seven as one of Brenda Fassie’s backup singers. She has also worked with DJ Cleo on the song “The One”, and also worked with DJ Qness on the song “I Get Weak”. She then released a few singles in 2016 as she kept working on releasing a solo debut album; she was also featured by DJ Chynaman on the song “Keep on Trying”.
Personal Life
Letoya is the daughter of musician Blondie Makhene and was previously known by her married surname Mangezi. In late 2014, she returned to her maiden surname after her divorce from her husband, Privilege Mangezi.
Children
She has four children, three with her ex-husband Privilege Mangezi and one with Tshepo Leeuw, who was her partner after she divorced Privilege.
Marriage To Lebo Keswa
In April 2020, Letoya revealed that she was dating businesswoman Lebo Keswa. However, this revelation only came after tabloid publication Sunday World “exposed” their relationship.
The lovers got engaged five months later, in October of 2020, and had their traditional wedding towards the end of December 2020.