Rapulana has become a household name in the entertainment world since he made his debut in the late 1980s. To date, he has recorded a lot of success both on the stage and onscreen. His most commercially successful production, Tsotsi, grossed $11.5 against a budget of $3 million and apart from this, the actor has been raking in huge income from his gigs in the entertainment industry.
Actor Rapulana Seiphemo Is Over Half A Decade Old
Born on the 4th of November 1967, the South African native is currently 56 years old. He spent his formative years in Meadowlands in Gauteng SA and passed through Anchor Comprehensive High School located in Orlando West, Soweto, graduating around the early 1990s.
Rapulana Seiphemo’s desire to further his education took the emerging actor to the United States of America where he acquired a Bachelor of arts degree in 1995 with his areas of concentration being in English, sociology, acting, psychology as well as Theatre production.
On his return to Africa in the 90s, the actor scored a teaching job at Fuba Academy (known as the Federated Union of Black Artists Academy) in 1995. He stayed with the academic institution for a year before moving on to the Sibikwa Community Theatre Group to work as an instructor. His lecturing gigs also include his work at Wits University which was accomplished in 1997.
A Bulk of His Net Worth Came From His Acting Career Which Took Off On Stage
Rapulana Seiphemo was just a 22-year-old callow youth when he dabbled into the entertainment industry in 1989. Following his graduation from Texas A&M University, the South African started appearing in theatre and stage productions such as My Children, My Africa. Recording remarkable progress in his career, Rapulana made radiant appearances on the sets of competitive production stages like The Piano Lesson, The Merchant of Venice, The Blacks, and Saturday Night.
The big bucks might not have started rolling in during his early days on stage, but from what is obvious, his experience then convinced the emerging act that his future lies in entertainment. Though he has all the time in the world to prove this, the talented actor did not relent for one day but got better with each role he played on stage till he found his way on screen.
Seiphemo’s On-screen Roles
Before his big break became a reality the South African native had already gone through five productions; in 1997, he portrayed Thabo in Jump the Gun, Rapulan was the Kaya we saw on the set of Tarzan and the Lost City in 1998 and he breathed life into the character of Jo Zuma in the 1999 production, A Reasonable Man. The same year, he played Godlieb Mofokeng in Isidingo: The Need and appeared in the 2000 Hijack Stories where he played Zama. It is interesting to know that Rapulana Seiphemo scored his big break within five years of joining the movie industry. In 2002, he started playing the lead in the popular SA telenovela soap entitled Generations, depicting the character of Tau Mogale. The series began as far back as 1993 but Rapulana joined nine years later. The role which has lasted for all of 19 years is still ongoing and needless to say, it has greatly impacted the actor’s career.
Before 2010, he recorded seven other acting credits including God Is African (in 2010 as Maltex), Tsotsi (in 2005 as John Dube), Gangster’s Paradise: Jerusalema (in 2008 as Lucky Kunene), White Wedding (in 2009 as Tumi), Silent Witness television series (2010 as Anton Radebe), Themba (in 2010 as Vuyo Matakane), and Africa United (in 2010 as Philippe Baku). Eight other roles have been recorded between 2011 to date. In 2011 alone, he scored three roles including; Potso Mogopudi in Paradise Stop, Julius Twala Jnr. in How to Steal 2 Million, and Nyoka in Skeem. Rapulana was Sipho Khumalo in the 2013 Layla Fourie and 2014 came with two roles; Joseph Ndluvo in Task Force and Mziwoxolo ‘Tau’ Mogale in Generations the Legacy. He was the man behind the Makimba Ferreira character in the 2016 production Dias Santana and recently, he joined Mzansi Magic’s telenovela known as The Queen; this happened in 2020.
Summary List Of Films Seiphemo Has Acted In
- The Queen
- Dias Santana
- Generations the Legacy
- Task Force
- Layla Fourie
- Skeem
- How to Steal 2 Million
- Paradise Stop
- Africa United
- Themba
- Silent WitnessTV Series
- White Wedding
- Gangster’s Paradise: Jerusalema
- Tsotsi
- God Is African
- Hijack Stories
- Isidingo: The Need
- A Reasonable Man
- Tarzan and the Lost City
- Jump the Gun
- Generations
At 56 Years Old, Rapulana Seiphemo Has An Estimated Net Worth Of $3 Million
When Rapulana Seiphemo’s net worth was last estimated in 2020, it came to a tidy $3 million. The criteria used for the estimation include his current income, accumulated wealth, and his assets. Seiphemo’s major source of income according to sources is his career in the entertainment industry as an actor and movie maker.
His acting gig alone is said to bring in a monthly income of R55,000 and we are yet to factor in what he makes in movie production and directing, writing, editing, lecturing, and radio presentation. Despite his wealth, the Generation star prefers the modest lifestyle as he is not the type to make noise on social media. Summarily, his main sources of income are from acting, movie/TV production, film directing, television show editing, and screenwriting.
Aside From Acting, Rapulana Seiphemo Earns As A Film Writer, Radio And Movie Producer
As far back as 2003, Rapulana Seiphemo became a businessman when he went into collaboration with Kenneth Nkosi, and together they launched the production company, Stepping Stone Pictures. The company takes the credit for producing Paradise Stop which also featured Rapulana and Kenne in the lead. The 13 part SABC 1 drama series Taskforce is also part of their movie production portfolio. Apart from acting which is his major income source, Seiphemo’s business and behind-the-screen roles have added a few digits to his bank balance. Here is a summary of all their production work.
- State of Emergency: How to Make a Protest Movie (Documentary co-producer)
- Task Force television series (as a producer in 13 episodes 2014)
- Perfect Sishebo television series (as a producer in 2014)
- Laugh Out Loud (LOL) television series (as executive producer 2011)
- Paradise Stop (as Producer 2011)
- White Wedding (as producer 2009)
In the course of his writing career, the South African native has penned a couple of projects, namely White Wedding and Paradise Stop. He takes the credit for the editing work done in five episodes of Task Force and was responsible for directing six episodes of Laugh Out Loud.
Rapulana’s multifaceted career at a time included radio production. The actor worked with Motsweding FM but around 2016, news broke that he dumped the work due to some difference in opinion with the station’s management.