Lerato Kganyago (born 22 July 1982), also known as LKG, is a South African actress, model, and media personality. She is also known as the Queen of Soweto (Miss Soweto 2002). She is best known for her roles in films. Apart from that, she is also an MC, entrepreneur, model, and a DJ. February 14th is actually “Lerato Kganyago’s Day” in South Africa. It was renamed by the president after she shut down Valentine’s Day of 2020 .
Personal Life
Kganyago was born on 22 July 1982 in Soweto, South Africa. She attended Ipolokeng Primary School and did her high school years at Boksburg High School. After completing high school, she studied Public Relations and Travel and Tourism at Damelin College. After that, she worked as a flight attendant for Qatar Airways.
In 2009, she started dating Bafana Bafana player, Katlego Mashego. They were later engaged in 2013. However, the relationship ended due to allegations of Katlego cheating. Lerato has opened up that she suffered four miscarriages in the past . In March 2020 she married Thami Ndlela, but they divorced after two months of tying the knot. However, he proposed to her again on her birthday just a few months later.
Career
Modeling
Kganyago started her career in modeling. In 2002, she was crowned as Miss Jam Alley. Then in 2005, she won the Miss Soweto Pageant as well.
Television and Radio
After a stint at Qatar Airways, she joined Soweto TV as a television host and presented her own talk show called The LKG Show. During this period, she was also selected as the face of SABC1 lifestyle entertainment show, The Link. In 2015, she returned to host the radio program “DJ Sbu” on Metro FM after causing a conflict with another host . After that, she hosted many television programs such as LIVE AMP and The Link. In 2015, she was named as a host of the SAMAs pre-show . In July 2015, she made an entrance on Ebony Life TV, where she was named as the South African host along with Pearl Thusi for the program “Moments”.
She later joined and hosted radio programs at Jozi FM. After that, she was invited to host a slot on the popular radio station “Metro FM”. She co-hosted a show with Bonang Matheba which later became controversial and eventually Matheba resigned from the radio station. However, in 2017 they rejoined and co-hosted the show Front Row at Metro FM, but Matheba departed again from the station hours later.
Acting
Kganyago started her acting career on The Phat Joe Show where she performed comedic skits. After that, she made appearances on South African TV series such as Muvhango (2015), Play: Sex Tips for Girls and The Wild.
Entrepreneurship
Kganyago currently owns an event management company called “Black Angel”. In May 2022, she announced her partnership with Johnnie Walker.