Mfana Jones Hlophe remembered: SAFTAs joins industry tributes to former Generations actor

Mfana Jones Hlophe, the veteran actor whose career spanned theatre and television for 37 years. Picture: Facebook

The South African Film and Television Awards (SAFTAs) has joined the growing chorus of tributes to actor Mfana Jones Hlophe, who died on Wednesday, 7 October, aged 55.

According to TV With Thinus, when Hlophe’s partner returned home on Wednesday evening, she found him in a bad condition. She got him Coca-Cola to try and “stabilise his sugar levels” but told the reporter it didn’t help.They travelled to Charlotte Maxeke Hospital in Johannesburg in an e-hailing vehicle, where Hlophe was pronounced dead upon arrival. It is believed he died on the way there. The actor struggled with health complications from Type 1 Diabetes for years, but it has not yet been established as the cause of death.

In a statement shared on X and Instagram, the SAFTAs extended condolences “to the family, friends and colleagues of legendary actor, Mfana-Jones Hlophe”. The awards body also highlighted the breadth of his résumé, naming Sarafina!, Soul City, Generations: The Legacy, Uzalo, Imbewu: The Seed and, most recently, Kwa Baba.

That list reads like a map of South African storytelling over nearly four decades.

According to TVSA, Hlophe matriculated in 1987 and joined the Mbongeni Ngema School of Art; he was then chosen for the second company of Sarafina!, which toured Europe in 1989. Theatre remained central to his work, with stints at the Market Theatre and a lead role in Ipi Ntombi in 1997.

Television audiences knew him best as Jabu in Soul City, a role TVSA said he played from 2006 to 2007, and later as the scheming Bra Nimrod Thabede in Generations: The Legacy, to which he returned in December 2025. He was also seen as Uncle Mkhize in Kwa Baba earlier this year.

The SAFTAs’ message follows an outpouring from colleagues. Fellow actor Zola Hashatsi announced the news on X on Thursday night, writing that Hlophe “practically raised us”. On Friday, the Generations: The Legacy account said the producers, cast and crew were “deeply saddened by the untimely passing” of Hlophe and sent condolences to his family.

TV with Thinus reports that Enjay Productions said his “passion for the arts and the people around him will always live on”.

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