When Setlhabi Taunyane’s theatre troupe came to Toronto from South Africa during apartheid in 1978, all eight members elected to apply for asylum in Canada. Taunyane completed his immigration examination, and his application was successful. Taunyane spent the next decade and a half acting on the stage in Canada.
His performance in the 1994 production of “Survival!” at the Helen Gardiner Playhouse was reviewed in the Toronto Star, whose critic noted the “fine comedy and poignancy” of Taunyane’s performance.
By the mid-1990s, apartheid restrictions had lifted, and Taunyane had returned to South Africa. The reception he received, however, devastated him. His parents and extended family rejected him, and his situation deteriorated to the extent that he ended up living on the street.
“My life was tough,” Taunyane told South Africa’s Move! Magazine in 2020. “Some of my relatives called me ikwerekwere (a derisive term for ‘foreigner’ in Xhosa).”
Thankfully, his indomitable spirit saved him. “I am grateful to all the people who wrote me off,” he said, “because without them, I would not have had this drive to succeed in life. They encouraged me.”
And succeed he did: After getting his life together, Taunyane’s acting talents landed him roles opposite stars like Danny Glover (in the 2005 film “Where Others Wavered,” about Namibia’s independence movement) and Chris Evans (in 2019’s “The Red Sea Diving Resort”).
But it was on TV that Setlhabi Taunyane became a household name in South Africa, playing the beloved character Bra Kop on the long-running soap opera “Rhythm City,” which is about the behind-the-scenes drama of working in the music industry.
Taunyane joined the “soapie” in 2007 and has been a staple on the show ever since. After 14 years, “Rhythm City” comes to an end on July 16, 2021. What a journey!
The soon-to-be-68-year-old Taunyane has certainly earned a peaceful retirement, but his fans undoubtedly hope to see him on the stage and screen for years to come—perhaps even one day back here in Toronto, his always welcoming home away from home.
