PERSONAL PROFILE
Thembisile Ntaka was born and raised in Hammersdale, KwaZulu Natal on the 25th January 1982. Her mother passed away when she was seven and her Dad in 2005. She has three sisters- two older and one younger. Despite being the middle child, she definitely hasn’t had the opportunity to revel in middle child syndrome. “Times were really hard growing up, but with support from my family, we managed to get by.”
DISCOGRAPHY
Thembisile started realizing that she has a singing talent at the tender age of seven. She started competing at Shell road to fame talent competitions at the age of 13. She did not make it in that competition, however she never gave up and started singing at social events in and around Hammersdale. In 2003, whilst she was doing Grade 11, she took part in the Coca-cola Popstars Talent competition. She was chosen as one of the top 5 winners, who formed the Popstar group Adilah. They recorded an album, which won an FNB Sama Award in 2003 and sold over 25 000 copies.
In 2004, Adilah as a group went through some challenging times and Thembisile decided to follow a solo career and juggle it with Adilah work. She was signed up as a solo artist in 2004 and recorded an album with EMI/ CCP Records, which was released at the beginning of 2005 October. She released an album titled Thembisile –My journey in 2008 which recently won an MTN SAMA Award 2009.
As a solo act, she was featured in the following projects
- A collaboration with Mandoza in 2004
- Coca-cola collaboration project, where she recorded a gospel song with Rebecca Malope and Ringo Madlingozi.
- Is’gubhu samampela project, which featured a number of South African divas
- She recently won an MTN SAMA Award 2009
- She has worked with Ringo on Ringo Live 2 DVD
- She has also worked with Ntando’s latest DVD, she appears there.
- She is currently working with Jub-Jub’s new album due end of June 2009
Social Responsibilities
Nkosi Johnson Home
Red Cross Children’s hospital in Cape Town
Alex Old Age Home
AIDS Orphanage- Southgate
Gordonia Services in Johannesburg
Her Purpose for getting involved in charity work is to “Show that I care for kids, to give them love and with old people it is to let them know that they do matter.’
Closest to her heart is her work with children- especially disabled kids and those in jails and hospitals.
Thembisile has appeared in several newspaper and magazine publications. She has also appeared on number of Television programs, and having been discovered on a television reality program, she is at home on TV, whether as a guest, hosting a TV program or doing continuity presenting. Her strong spirit, that saw her rise from very humble beginnings to stardom, inspired thousands of South Africans and as such the media was always following her rising star. She became known as that Popstar who sang her way out of poverty to success, so that she could afford to take care of her father and give him better healthcare. She also became a symbol of hope for a lot of children living in poverty-stricken areas. She would say and still preaches the words “if I can make it, everyone else can”. This is what led to her being a highly sought-after motivational speaker for schools.
PERSONAL MOTTO
‘WHEN ONE DOOR CLOSES ANOTHER ONE OPENS. NEVER GIVE UP. EVERYTHING HAPPENS FOR A REASON.’
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