She wears several hats in the media industry.
While many know her as an actress, she is also a TV presenter, producer and radio jock.
From her time as Pinky Mojeki on SABC 2’s Hola Mpintshi, the Pretoria-born creative has known that she has found her first love on TV.
Admitting this to Drum, Gabisile Tshabalala, she says she loves being an entertainer and moving people’s hearts, whether that be in presenting or acting.
With presenting, she had always wanted to do it but was scared until she was comfortable with who she is.
Since her acting breakthrough, she has presented shows like SABC 1’s #ThrowbackThursday, Moja Love’s Lovey Dovey and e.tv’s Stena Redemption, where her contagious laughter has captured the hearts of many.
For years, Gabisile has frequented our screens and has grown without necessarily being in the spotlight the whole time.
Embracing her growth, the 33-year-old says to get to this point in her career, “I needed to know whose I am and who I am in all of this. I needed to have a better relationship with Christ because He knows me better. If you’re a child of a King, you’re not going to be afraid to tap into anything and get whatever you want. For some people to know me now, I don’t think it’s a bad thing in any way.
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“I don’t believe that there’s anyone who’s underrated. I just believe that God has just put a hand over me to be protected and He will expose me at the right time. Sometimes we want to rush for fame but you’re not ready for the world,” she adds.
Now ready for the world, she graces international Netflix screens in a friendship-oriented film as Sade and she tells Drum how she related with the character.
“I’ve been in relationships and there’s a lot of things that I’ve been through [which] made it easy for me to tap into the character. For example, I’ve been cheated on before, I’ve been emotionally abused, and I’ve been physically abused so those are the things that I could relate to.”
She adds that her past experiences in life prepared her for this particular and for that reason, she never worries about any situation she faces because she believes that they prepare her for bigger and greater things even though she might not understand it in the moment.
In every situation, she says, “I learn a lot”.
Sade, who is one of four girls in a friendship group, is about to get married to a “man of God” who not only prays at every unfavourable turn with Sade but is controlling. From her wedding dress and bridesmaids to who she must have as friends, Sade loses control over her life and ends up being beaten up the day before her wedding because she is not a virgin.
After continuing with the wedding in spite of the abuse, it all gets worse as she is expected to be a housewife, and this drives her into a depressive state.
Like Sade, Gabisile was also married to a man of God with which she had two children with.
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Although she wasn’t physically abused, she admits that she was emotionally abused in her previous relationship so revisiting those emotions for the character was a walk in the park.
When she was casted and she finally met Sade on paper last year after finalising her divorce in 2021, she was excited.
However, when it came to watching Sade play out on TV, “I was so nervous to see myself. I was looking forward to seeing my performance and I was also very nervous” because she kept on thinking about how she’d be received by the viewers.
Even as many might have judged Sade, she says she didn’t because she understands how difficult it is to leave an abusive relationship.
Now divorced and in her lover girl era, Gabisile giggles and says, “I just gave myself another chance to love again and be loved. For the longest time, I had so much love to give but I don’t think I was ready to receive love from anyone else. The minute I started allowing myself to love and be loved, I met the right person, and this was before I was with anyone.”
Gabisile and actor Motlatsi Mafatshe have recently gone public with their relationship on their social media platforms and their YouTube channel where they have extensively spoken about knowing each other for over a decade but only finding themselves in each other’s arms after both going through divorce.
The two have since been serving relationship goals.
Speaking about it, Gabisile says, “I’m not showing it off to hurt anyone in the past but it’s just to inspire others because I know there are so many people who have been divorced and they’re like ‘oh no, I’m so afraid to love again’ or that people are going to judge me for moving on too quickly.
“I’m living my best life and of course I wish for the best, I hope for the best, I pray for the best but I’m living for today. I am enjoying it today so if it’s going to last ten months, let it be so. If it’s going to last a lifetime, then ‘yaayy’.”
The bubbly actress adds that they’re using their YouTube channel as a fun platform to inspire others to never lose hope in love.
