By Debra Rono
When Doja Cat met actress Whoopi Goldberg, a star in Sarafina, a few years back, Doja mentioned that her father had also been involved in the production. This revelation led to an unexpected conversation between the two.
“I’m just thinking about my dad because he was in Sarafina, so seeing and meeting you is crazy,” said Doja in a chat with Goldberg.
Intrigued, Goldberg inquired about her father’s name, and upon learning it, she was taken aback.
“Get out of here…a good man, really a good man,” exclaimed Goldberg.
‘Crocodile’ whose real name is Dumisani Dlamini, is a renowned South African dancer and actor. He hails from Durban, South Africa, and belongs to the Zulu community.
During the 1990s, while touring the United States for his performance in Sarafina on Broadway, Dlamini crossed paths with Deborah Sawyer, a painter and clothing designer. They had a relationship before going their separate ways. It is worth mentioning that Sawyer is the mother of Doja Cat.
Although Doja whose real name is Amala Ratna Zandile Dlamini recognizes Crocodile as her father, she says she has never met him, in fact on her X bio a while back Doja called her father “deadbeat”,
“My dad’s a deadbeat but I did well,” Doja updated her X.
Doja grew up in the United States while her father lived in South Africa.
After the success of Sarafina in the late 90’s, Dlamini decided to remain in the United States. He started a family with a Jewish-American woman and was blessed with two children, among them Doja Cat. Nevertheless, after a span of 15 years, Dlamini decided to return to South Africa with the aspiration of reuniting with his family.
Crocodile has many times denied claims that he is not at terms with his daughter, he once said in an interview that he has a “healthy” relationship with his daughter and that her management team had tried to block all his attempts to contact her out of the fear that they “might lose her.”
Dumisani has consistently shown his support for his daughter. He once posted a video of Doja and captioned it with, “Wow let me hear the best from the best good luck.”
In a previous interview on Apple Music 1, Doja revealed that she had never met her father when the host, Ebro Darden, inquired about it. She also remained quiet about the possibility of visiting South Africa, her father’s home country, during the same interview. When asked if she had ever been or intended to go, she replied, “I still haven’t.”
Doja Cat is a rapper, singer, and songwriter. She has been nominated in the categories for Best Female R&B/Pop Artist, Best Female Hip-Hop Artist, Video of the Year, and Viewer’s Choice in the BET Awards 2024. Doja is known for her demonic-like music videos. In her song ‘Demonic’ Doja elicited opinions, some supporters arguing that Doja Cat’s public image of embracing Satanism and worshipping the devil is merely a facade.