Hannah Botha, one of South Africa’s veteran actors and a star of M-Net’s soap opera Egoli, has died at the age of 84.
Botha died in Johannesburg on the morning of April 16, Beeld newspaper reported. She was admitted to hospital at the weekend as she was not feeling well, and it was found that her blood-sugar levels were high.
She was then admitted to the Garden City Clinic for tests as she experienced swelling of her stomach. An hour before her death, she told nursing staff she was ”fine”, Beeld reported, before she had trouble breathing. She died soon after.
The actor filmed scenes for Egoli, in which she played the role of Elsa Pienaar for 15 years, until recently. The last episodes in which she appear will be screened within weeks, co-producer Burgert Muller told the newspaper.
Born in the small West Coast seaside village of Dwarskersbos in 1923, she worked for the South African Revenue Service for more than 40 years before embarking on a full-time acting career upon her retirement in 1988. She also appeared in the hit TV series Agter Elke Man, another Franz Marx creation.
She is to be cremated, the newspaper report said.