Bio
Simphiwe Ngema is a South African actress and singer best known for her role as Thuli Nkosi on the SABC2 soapie Muvhango.
She was briefly married to Rhythm City star and former pro footballer Dumi Masilela until his murder in an attempted hijacking, in 2017.
Simphiwe was born in Klipspruit, Soweto. A journalism graduate of Boston House, she was introduced to acting by Muvhango creator Duma Ndlovu, who cast her in his stage play The Game, in 2008.
In the show she played Pretty Khumalo, a prostitute who is in jail for the murder of her father. It was her first professional acting role.
A few years later, in 2011, Ndlovu cast Simphiwe in Muvhango in the role of Thuli Nkosi. She left the show in 2015 after her character had run its course.
In 2014 she was a presenter of an award at the 20th South African Music Awards (SAMAs), which aired on SABC1 on 28 April, 2014.
The following year she was cast as the presenter of the eKasi+ documentary series Isiko, which explored a wide variety of South African cultural rituals such as chieftainship, polygamy, traditional music and initiation rituals.
Also in 2015, she appeared in the Vuzu Amp docu-reality series PKs (Preachers' Kids), which profiled a group of young people who are all the children of preachers, as she is.
In 2016 she played the recurring role of Noni in the Mzansi Magic telenovela Greed and Desire.
Simphiwe's next acting assignment was the recurring role of Dudu in the e.tv telenovela Broken Vows, making her first appearance in Season 1, Episode 191 (which aired on 1 January, 2018).
In the same year she landed noather recurring role - this time as Buhle in the Mzansi Magic soapie The Queen. Her first showing in the role was in Season 2, Episode 164 (which aired on 15 March, 2018).
Also in 2018, she was cast as Phindile in the SABC3 soapie Isidingo, joining in November that year.
In 2020 she was one of the celebrity contestants on the ninth season of the SABC3 advertiser-funded reality competition series Tropika Island of Treasure.
Also in 2020, she was cast in the second season of the SABC2 drama series Bone of My Bones in the role of Ruth, a music producer who used to date Kgotso (Solomon Sebothoma) in high school.
She comes back from working overseas for the last decade and settles in with her friends Thembi (Mmatema Moremi) and Keitumetse (Gontse Ntshegang).