Bio
Presley Chweneyagae was a South African actor best known for his starring role as Cobra in the Mzansi Magic soapie The River and for his eponymous role in the film Tsotsi.
Although he had acted before in plays and community theatre projects, he rose to fame in Tsotsi which was his first feature film.
The film won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 78th Academy Awards in 2006 and Presley won the inaugural SAFTA for Best Actor in a Feature Film in the same year.
Presley performed in a number of productions for North West Arts (now known as the Mmabana Arts Foundation) and appeared in A Midsummer Night's Dream (as Puck) and in the play Cards at the Grahamstown Arts Festival.
He made his TV acting debut in 2000 in Orlando for SABC TV.
He was cast as The Poet in the 2006 mini-series When We Were Black and also had roles on the SABC3 drama series Thula's Vine and SABC2 drama series 90 Plein Street, in 2016/2017.
In 2017 he starred as Shoes Moshoeshoe in the Mzansi Magic drama series iNumber Number, a spin-off of the 2013 film where he also starred as Shoes. He reprised the role again in 2023 in the movie iNumber Number: Jozi Gold, on Netflix.
Presley starred for six seasons in the Mzansi Magic soapie The River as Cobra (2018-2024), and revived that character in the 13-part drama series Cobrizi, in 2025.
He won two Best Actor SAFTAs for his portrayal of this character, the first in 2019 and the second in 2024.
He was also a presenter at two SAFTA ceremonies.
Presley died on Tuesday 27 May 2025. The cause of his death was not disclosed. He was 40.