Miriam Makeba actress Cynthia Erivo teases Xhosa skills [video]
· The South African
Cynthia Erivo – the actress set to play South African songbird Miriam Makeba in The Road Home – has given the public a glimpse of her Xhosa lessons.
The British star is currently filming the biopic, which also explores the life of Makeba’s ex-husband, the late jazz artist Hugh Masekela, played by local actor Thabo Rametsi.
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The R300 million film will explore real-life events in music and politics during the Apartheid era.
CYNTHIA ERIVO ON XHOSA LESSONS
In a clip from a special appearance at the book festival in Washington over the weekend, Cynthia Erivo spoke about her filming for her role as Miriam Makeba in the biopic The Road Home.
She shared: “I just came back from South Africa, and I had to learn Xhosa”
Cynthia went on to praise the language as “perfect”. She also mastered all the clicks in a line from Makeba’s hit song, Qongqothwane (also known as the The Click Song).
Watch the clip below…
A sneak peak of Cynthia Erivo speaking Xhosa as Miriam Makeba pic.twitter.com/4BDFYsIDVC
— . (@__messo__) August 24, 2026
Cynthia Erivo has previously shared that she was “honoured” to play Miriam Makeba in the biopic that is currently filming in South Africa.
She shared in a Facebook post: “I have had a Miriam Makeba-shaped space in my heart for aeons now. The thought of bringing her to life this way is scary, a challenge. She is and was singular. I can only hope that with hard work, I can do her the justice that she so deserves. I am deeply honoured to be given the opportunity to try”.
She added, “If you don’t know who she is, you should. A legend, a storyteller, a healer. Mama Africa”
PLAYING MIRIAM MAKEBA: BACKLASH FROM SOUTH AFRICANS
While many social media users were impressed by Cynthia Erivo’s Xhosa pronunciation in the clip, others, like Somizi, have questioned the decision to cast the British-born actress in the role of a South African woman.
While Black Brain Pictures casting director, Lawrancia Mqwebu, praised Cynthia as a talented actress, she questioned the decision to cast her.
She told Newzroom Afrika: “It is cringe at first – is it a question of authenticity or a question of investability. In this case, it’s the latter
“We know the way we speak, our nuances, our phonetics are interesting. I’m not convinced that there is an amount of time and research that can get her to give us that true sense of who Miriam Makeba really was”.