She was born in East London, Eastern Cape and later moved to Pretoria where she was raised and bred to be the talent that she is. She loves being the life of the room, entertaining people. Her first love was singing, which she discovered at age 13 but later discovered that she loves acting too. She started with musical theatre then moved on to the digital screen. You must wonder who I am rambling about. I am talking about the beautiful and talented Siyasanga Papu, commonly known for her most recent character Pretty on TV series Gomora.
She shares with us the ups and downs of being in the art industry and how she handles it. She shares that having a personal drive is how she handles the industry, “I’ve always been a very ambitious person who goes out and gets what she wants”, she says. She believes that hard work always pays off and that she does not allow negativity to get to her. “I am a very positive person in general and I choose to sift out negativity and rather be positive”, she says. She also shares how she is able to separate the characters she plays and who she is at home since some characters are far from her personal character and personality. She believes that she is a vessel for the stories to be told, she is a storyteller. She gives life to the script, “I am literally just the body that is used to tell the story”.
She shares that she expects criticism because it is part of life, “it is very important to know who you are and be firm in who you are because then whatever the world reflects back at you does not change you from the person that you are”, she says. She adds that there are criticisms that she takes based on her performances which will help better her skill as an artist. “You need to learn to sift out criticism that is just that and then criticism that is constructive and is there meant to build you and make you stronger”, she adds. Clearly knowing who you are plays a great role on how you receive and deal with the criticism you come across.
She shares a short message to young upcoming Christian actors, “Always have faith. God always gives you a talent because He believes you can handle it. Whatever challenges that come with the talent, if God has given you a talent ultimately it will come to light. And the fact that you are Christian should not take away from your abilities or talent that God has given you. You are meant to be a storyteller. You are meant to be a vessel but always remember to put God first”, she passionately says. She shares that before shooting she always makes a short prayer of thanksgiving to God for the gift she has been given and the opportunity to use it. She adds that being a vessel to tell a story does not mean you become that story and that actors should not allow the characters they play overwhelm them. “You need to guard your heart and guard your soul and guard your spirit because you never know what kind of space you are walking into. You need to be firm and steadfast in your belief because there will be challenges even on a spiritual level and you cannot forget where you come from”, she shares.
Siyasanaga, like I mentioned has a musical bone in her. She is part of a six-piece band called Molo live band who are based in Pretoria. They have an album called Our Story and one of their songs Pieces will be featured in SABC 1’s Royal Soapy Awards and she’ll be performing the song as a duet with Sihle Ndaba. She is also a businesswoman, she has a consulting company called Siyasanga Business Consulting which deals with events, entertainment, design and printing. She also runs an NPO with her best friend Mandla Gaduka and friend Karabo Dibodu, called Somelezi. The NPO runs workshops in juvenile prison where they teach arts in all its faculties. The NPO is passion project for her and her team. To keep up with this busybody you can follow her on social media, she is Siyasanga Papu on Facebook and @siyasanga_papu on Instagram.
