South Africans bear in mind appearing ‘icon’ who died age 40

South Africans are paying tribute to actor Presley Chweneyagae, who has died on the age of 40.

Speaking on Wednesday, his household stated he had died from pure causes after experiencing respiratory issues.

Family spokesperson Mzwakhe Sigudla stated that paramedics had attended to him, however he “could not make it”.

Chweneyagae, who was born in 1984 in South Africa’s North-West Province, obtained his massive worldwide break after starring within the 2005 movie Tsotsi, which earned the nation its first Oscar for greatest overseas language movie.

Tsotsi, a robust crime movie by which Chweneyagae performs the lead position, explores gang life in a South African township.

In a press release saying his demise, his company described him as a “South African icon” and one of many nation’s “most gifted and beloved actors”.

The South African authorities printed a put up on X describing him as “a gifted storyteller whose expertise lit up our screens and hearts”.

Chweneyagae additionally starred within the Nelson Mandela biopic Long Walk to Freedom in 2013, in addition to appearing in numerous theatre productions.

The South African Film and Television Awards described him as a “true legend of South African cinema” and a “powerhouse performer”.

The Ministry of Sports, Art and Culture launched a press release highlighting his position within the widespread South African sequence River and Cobrizzi.

“The Department of Sports, Art and Culture, mourns the lack of a real trailblazer – a storyteller who held the soul of a nation in his craft,” Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie stated within the assertion.