ACTRESS Dawn Thandeka King is known for delivering her best when she plays different roles on TV, but there's more about her.
The 46-year-old Dawn from Eshowe in KZN comes from a religious family.
She's the great granddaughter of the respected Shembe church founder Inkosi Isaiah "Mqaliwendlela" Shembe. Mqaliwendlela founded Shembe church, known as Nazareth Baptist Church, in 1910.
Dawn, who plays Nomcebo on Isitha: The Enemy, is the granddaughter of the late Shembe leader Inkosi Ilanga (Johannes Gailee "JG" Shembe) who led after Inkosi Isaiah Shembe.
She said her biological father is Lombo Shembe, who is the son of Inkosi Ilanga, and her father died in 2004.
Shembe church is respected and one of the biggest churches in Mzansi with a membership of more than seven million.
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In the King David Studio podcast, Dawn revealed that King was her stepfather, and she will always respect him for the better life he gave her, but her biological father was Lombo Shembe.
“My father passed on in 2004 and his name was Lombo Shembe, which means that I have Isaiah Shembe as his great granddaughter and JG Shembe as grandfather, biologically.
“I was raised by maternal parents, and I was brought up by maternal grandparents. My grandfather was a dean of the Lutheran church in the northern region. I was brought up in a church, a Lutheran Church,” she said.
She said her grandfather only took her once to see her paternal side of her family, and her grandmothers from the Shembe side also came to visit her when she was about nine years old.
“They told me that they were my grandmothers and brought me presents. I was confused because I only knew my grandmother from my maternal side.
“They asked if I could visit them during the holidays and they took me to an area in Empangeni called KwesakwaMthethwa. There was a temple called Ekwazini and that was where my grandmother was based” she said.
She said that was where she was introduced to the Shembe religion, and she was confused because they observed Sabbath, and it was her first time experiencing that.
“It was a nice experience because in Shembe they live in a traditional way. It was also exciting to be part of July church. My father introduced me to his ancestors by slaughtering a goat,” she said.
She said that comedian Simphiwe Shembe's father and her dad are siblings.
“We recognise each other, and we are not calling each other by surnames. We call each other Shembes” she said.
Simphiwe that Dawn is his older sister.
"Yes, she is my older sister," he said.
