EXCLUSIVE: Leleti Khumalo tells Kaya 959 what her honorary doctorate from Rhodes University truly means.
By Bulelwa Hoala
Legendary South African actress Leleti Khumalo has been conferred with an Honorary Doctorate of Laws (LLD) from Rhodes University, marking a milestone she says she “could only dream of.”
The Sarafina! star shared her graduation pictures on social media, reflecting on her humble beginnings.
“Dr Leleti Khumalo. Never in a million years did I ever think that would be my title,” she wrote.
“From a little girl in the dusty streets of Kwamashu to a holder of an honorary Doctor of Laws… Oh I could only dream, and now it’s a reality for little old me.”
See the pics below:
Speaking exclusively to Kaya 959, Khumalo said receiving an Honorary Doctorate of Laws in the year marking 50 years since the Soweto Uprising represents a “radical reordering of value”.
She explained that the recognition challenges traditional ideas of justice.
“It challenges the idea that justice is the sole domain of courts and constitutions. It asserts that justice is also shaped in rehearsal rooms, on stages, in scripts, in the quiet, painstaking work of embodying truth,” she said.
The arts as a “legal contribution”
Khumalo added that the honour reframes the law as more than rules and court cases, but as a powerful driver of ideas, narratives, and social change. She said it should spark a broader conversation about what truly counts as a “legal contribution”, urging society to ask difficult questions about the role of storytelling and consciousness in shaping justice.
She also expressed gratitude to Rhodes University, saying the institution had done more than recognise her as an individual.
“By honouring me, Rhodes University is not only recognising an individual, but it is also acknowledging that the arts have always been part of South Africa’s justice system, even if unofficially, that without artists, many of our truths would have remained buried,” she said.
A powerful message for the youth
Khumalo said the recognition serves as a powerful message to young people pursuing careers in the arts.
“It is heartwarming for me to know that I serve as a reminder to the youth who aspire to careers in the arts that, long before justice was written into law, it was imagined. It was felt. It was performed,” she said.
Reflecting on her journey, she added that artists have long carried the fight for justice through their craft.
“Sometimes, it was carried bravely by a young girl who once stood on a stage and reminded the world that, even in the face of oppression, the human spirit will always find a way to sing and dance. We, as artists, have carried that fight forward, not with placards, but with performance.”
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