House of Zwide actress Shalate Sekhabi talks about living her dream and responds to trolls about her acting skills.

You would imagine people on television wouldn’t object if someone knew about their personal lives.However, the actress wishes to keep both her personal and professional lives private.

Actress Shalate Sekhabi’s life has changed, and she has become one of TV’s favourite faces.The 22-year-old from Pretoria East is on e.tv’s show, House of Zwide, as Shoki.She spoke to SunBuzz about how things have changed for her in a short space of time.

“The past year has been a roller coaster. It’s been interesting, fun and there’s a lot of growth as an actress and just as a person in the industry. I was balancing work with school, and I still am. I’m doing my honours now, so it’s been hectic. But it’s been really good. It’s been a dream come true,” she said.

However, while Shalate is only blowing up now, she has been acting from a young age because her father, Aubrey Sekhabi, is also in the entertainment industry. Aubrey is the artistic director at the State Theatre in Tshwane.

“My love of acting started when I was 12. This was after my dad got me a role small role in a short film. Although my character was shorter, I enjoyed it and realised that I wanted to do more. That same year, I was in another film and there I had a longer role and that’s when I really got into it,” she said.

Shalate said that it has been a challenge for her in the industry to strike a balance between her personal life and fame. The actress said being a celebrity comes with many challenges, including trolls about my acting skills and stuff, but I’m getting used to it. I always believe that I should focus more on myself.

“People feel like they are entitled to your life and the things you do. They feel like they know you and therefore have the right to say anything about you and treat you the way they want,” Kgabang said.

“It’s a challenge to deal with privacy and be successful at the same time. At the same time, your fans want to get to know you and learn about your life. So, it’s been a challenge for me to find a balance,” Kgabang said.

She said she’s working on her album: “This album is going to be a lot more introspective. It’s going to be more about my personal relationship with self, not just with other people,” Kgabang said.