One of Botswana’s enduring talent exports to neighbouring South Africa, Connie Ferguson, reflects on grit, willpower and faith as formidable forces that are helping her to face life and continue in her work at Ferguson Films after losing her husband in 2021
GOSEGO MOTSUMI
A mantra that actor, filmmaker and director Connie Ferguson lives by is to live, love and leave a legacy.
This came to light when Botswana’s talent export to South Africa shared her life story at Women Evolve in Gaborone over the weekend.
In her own words: “Sometimes people think legacy is the big houses and cars or material things but it is everything that you do with love. Legacy is in people’s hearts and how they remember you.”
Curveballs
Ferguson took her audience through her upbringing and how it has influenced how she does business and was factor in her going to South Africa, the set of the famous SA soapie Generations and building a TV empire.
Today, the multi-dimensional celebrity runs Ferguson Films after losing her husband and business partner, Shona Ferguson, in 2021 and is hailed as one of the success stories that has set the bar high. The production company has thus far produced one show, “Kings of Joburg” since “The Queen.”
“You will never arrive, so don’t get it twisted because life will always throw curveballs,” Ferguson said. “And if you are not ready to duck and dive, fall and dust yourself up and find a route that will get you back on track, you won’t survive.
“In 2021, the same year we lost Shona, a couple of months later we found out we were stopping The Queen TV series that was a full time job for many people.
“It had been feeding families, and it made me feel I was living my purpose. But the tables were suddenly turned upside down and things looked uncertain. I was fortunate enough to have planned ahead of that unprecedented time.”
Life after Shona
She disclosed that after Shona passed away, she experienced a lot of pressure as people looked up to her. This is a woman who has had instances where she didn’t have a salary at the end of the month but was kept afloat by her reserves.
“What that forced me to do was to be still because my coping mechanism had always been to keep busy,” she said. “Suddenly it felt like grieving had started from scratch.
“I took a short left to Bali, Indonesia to meditate and allowed myself to feel everything I needed to and got back to myself. I am human and I will feel what I feel but if I have faith I will not feel like this forever and that’s what’s driving me to move forward.”