'She has been around long enough. She has staying power'

It's 7.30am on a Friday and a cold snap is blanketing much of Johannesburg. I'm navigating my way through rush-hour traffic. My destination is a studio in Ferndale, where the True Love magazine crew is preparing to photograph actress and mum Sonia Sedibe for the August Women's Month cover. Sedibe is best-known for her role as Ntombi on the SABC1 soapie Generations. She will be returning to our screens in August.

I need to get there before she does: I want to see her before anyone applies their magic, before make-up and hair styling transform her natural looks.

I arrive at the studio an hour later.

"We're all too busy to get cold," says art director Hanneke du Toit as she leads me to where the action is taking place.

It is organised chaos. Fashion editor Mbali Soga is in her demarcated space, steaming garments and systematically hanging them on a rail. The art director and photographer are looking up at the walls and then down at their watches, estimating how long it would take for a wall to dry if they gave it a fresh coat of paint.

Make-up artist Nthato Mashishi gets a call while he's organising his kit: Sedibe is at the gate.

The clicking sound of stilettos on the studio floor signals her arrival. She's wearing a pair of jeans, a simple T-shirt and a jacket - apart from her stiletto boots, her look is casual.

Her make-up is non-existent and she is radiantly beautiful. .

Sedibe says she knows all too well the discomfort of thick, heavy make-up.

"I wear so much make-up on set that I try to avoid it when I can," she says.

She adds with confidence: "This is me. This is what I look like. Why should I hide?"

Soga says: "Styling a celebrity is more challenging than styling models because models are paid to be clothes hangers. They have no say in what you choose and they'll wear just about anything you give them.

"But celebrities have their own sense of style, which is often linked to their brand. They also have preferences and insecurities, so sometimes it's hard for me to convince them to try a different look and trust me with their image."

This is evident in the way Soga persuades Sedibe to wear a dress that falls just above her knees, a length Sedibe never wears.

"She's a woman of many roles," says the magazine's editor, Sbu Mpungose, about choosing her as their cover star.

"She's a mother and wife. A cover star must be somebody who is talented and has been in the lives of South Africans long enough for us to generally agree that she has staying power."

But Sedibe is more modest about her stardom.

She says: "At the end of the day, acting is a job, my job. The only difference is that, unlike other professions, people are exposed to my work. I do it because I love the craft. And when you do it for that reason, fame doesn't matter."

She is careful not to let any soapie secrets slip, but she does reveal that she's back on the Generations set after three months on maternity leave. She's been at work for three weeks.

"As you know, soapies are pre- recorded and shot months in advance, so you can expect to see me in August," says Sedibe.

Photographer Judd van Rensburg says about shooting cover girls: "It's about bringing out your subject's personality and capturing it at the right moment and with the perfect lighting."

There is no mistaking Sedibe's flawlessness both before and after the team's work. She looks perfect as she poses for the magazine's Women's Month cover, appropriately fitting the description of a "woman of many roles".