Disney Found Kendi in South Africa — and Is Bringing The Cheetah Girls Here

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By Viranova Culture Desk12 Jul 2026Entertainment

For decades, South Africa’s relationship with international film production has largely been built behind the camera. Local crews, studios and landscapes have helped foreign productions create everything from American suburbs to fantasy kingdoms. Disney’s newly greenlit The Cheetah Girls: Next Gen offers something slightly different: South Africa is not only serving as the production location but becoming part of the story itself.

Disney confirmed on 9 July 2026 that production would begin in South Africa during July. The film follows a new generation of performers, led by Leah Sava’ Jeffries as Faith, Carmen Sanchez as Dior, Kaileen Chang as Ruby and Sophie Lennon as Brooklyn. South African newcomer Kamogelo Ramashala, discovered through a global open casting call, joins the cast as Kendi. She is not one of the four principal new Cheetah Girls, as the original draft suggested, but her casting still places a local performer inside a major Disney musical franchise.

The legacy cast is also returning. Raven-Symoné reprises her role as Galleria, Adrienne Bailon returns as Chanel, and Sabrina Bryan makes a special appearance as Dorinda. Lynn Whitfield and Lori Alter also return, while Sophia Bush joins the supporting cast as a new character named Jennifré.

For millennials who memorised the choreography to “Strut” and “Cheetah Sisters,” the revival is an obvious nostalgia play. For South Africa’s screen industry, however, the more important question is how deeply the production will engage with the country beyond its locations.

Disney’s official description places the story in Africa and centres part of the action around a wildlife sanctuary. That creates both opportunity and risk. The film could incorporate South Africa’s contemporary youth culture, performance traditions and fashion without reducing the continent to scenery and wildlife imagery. It could also fall back on the broad, familiar visual shorthand Hollywood has often used when representing Africa.

Ramashala’s casting does not guarantee cultural depth, but it creates an opening. The real test will be whether Kendi is written as a fully realised young South African character or used only to authenticate an American-led adventure.

If Disney gets that balance right, Next Gen could become more than a reboot filmed in South Africa. It could offer a blueprint for how global franchises enter African cultural spaces without flattening the people who already live inside them.

Reporting basis: Based on Disney’s official 9 July 2026 announcement for The Cheetah Girls: Next Gen, public entertainment reporting on the returning and new cast, confirmation of South African production, Kamogelo Ramashala’s casting as Kendi, and Viranova editorial analysis of international productions filming in African cultural spaces.

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