Ray Ntlokwana

Mvuyiswa Renek “Ray” Ntlokwana (5 May 1937 – 20 July 2000) was a South African actor from Gugulethu, who was affectionately known as “Velaphi” following his lead role in the SABC Xhosa comedy, Velaphi, a name he was associated with throughout his career. Ntlokwana also starred in the award-winning television Xhosa drama Trouble in Constantia in which he played a rural man from the mud huts of the former Ciskei who won money in a lottery and bought a mansion in Constantia, an upmarket suburb in Cape Town. In 1996, the film won Ntlokwana the Artist Award for Best Actor in a Comedy. Ntlokwana was also known for his roles in many other movies, TV and stage plays, including Kwa-sindw'ezama, Senzekile, Living the Blues and Abakwazidenge. In another Xhosa film, Ingqumbo Yeminyanya, Ntlokwana played an old stubborn man, Ngxabane, from a rural area who fiercely opposed any attempts to move from tradition to modernisation.