Sydney Chama

Sydney Chama
Born	June 1, 1942 Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa
Died	October 8, 1996(1996-10-08) (aged 54)
Occupations	Actor Cartoonist (comic strip)
Known for	The Bafanas [1]

Sydney Chama was a South African actor and cartoonist. He was notable for both stage and screen performances and also as the cartoonist behind the popular comic strip The Bafanas on Bona Magazine in the early 1990s. ^[1]

Career

Chama's career spanned theatre and cinema. On stage, he performed in productions such as Sponono (written by Alan Paton and Krishna Shah ^[2] ), Driving Miss Daisy (Baxter Theatre, 1991), Night of January 16th, The Piano Lesson and Slave Trade. ^[3] His film and television roles included appearances in Zulu Dawn (1979), The Wild Geese (1978), Cyborg Cop (1993), Rage to Kill and Operation Delta Force (TV movie, 1997). ^[4]

Filmography

• The Wild Geese (1978) as Clark
• Zulu Dawn (1979) as S.M. Kambula
• Rage to Kill (1988) as Webster
• Hlala Kwabafileyo (1992) as Sgwili
• Cyborg Cop (1993)
• Operation Delta Force (1997) as Banda

References

1. Artist keeps people with disability busy through art, This Ability, 25 February 2021. Retrieved 28 August 2025. According to the article, Michael Maqungo, a board deputy secretary, credits Chama's "Bafanas" comic strip as an inspiration for his love of comics and sequential art.
2. Theater, a play from South Africa: Sponono, The New York Times, 3 April 1964. Retrieved 28 August 2025
3. "Sydney Chama". ESAT. Retrieved 28 August 2025.
4. "Sydney Chama – Biography". IMDb. Retrieved 28 August 2025.