Ryan Swano
Actress Crystal Donna Roberts, best known for her roles as Janice Mortlock in Arendsvlei and her starring role in the film Krotoa has at the age of 40 peacefully passed away in her sleep this morning, ending her long brave battle with cancer.
Her husband Schalk Cornelessen, whom she maried in October 2015, announced the sad news on a Facebook post saying “RIP my beautiful beautiful loving wife”
For me this is not just another news report but it is also a personal tribute to a beautiful soul who has touched many lives including mine.
The very first post I saw when I picked up my phone this morning was a lovely picture of Crystal Donna Roberts and her fellow actor Christian Bennett.
For a split second, before even seeing his caption, I started smiling, pleasantly thinking that they might be announcing new work together.
Alas… That excitement was very short-lived.
As soon as I saw the caption, it turned into a sense of loss and sadness; not only for Christian who has lost his friend and colleague, but for everyone; From her husband and family, to her friends who lost their loved one; From those in the entertainment industry who lost a dear colleague, to the whole of South Africa as a Nation and the rest of the world which has lost someone who has brought so much joy into so many people’s lives.
Tributes for the Beloved South African Actress, Donna Roberts, continue to pour in on various social media platforms and media outlets especially from her colleagues and friends in the entertainment industry, following the announcement by her husband Schalk Cornelessen on Facebook.
We at Bruinou.com have had the previlege of publishing a number of articles about Crystal Donna Roberts over the past decade, most notably about her role in the film Krotoa and often also about her character Janice in Arendvlei.
For now those article are in our archives since we’ve moved to this new platform but the entire archive will be made availabe some time soon again.
I got to meet Crystal at some or other awards ceremony (I genuinely can’t remember which it was) and I had no idea who she was and the next time I met her was at an event related to the film Krotoa of which she was the star. We would after that often get to interact at entertainment-industry-related events, and of course I also got to interview her on a few occasions.
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This woman’s infectiously bubbly personality and witty intelligence, along with her gorgeous smile, drew me in whenever I had the opportunity to chat with her, especially when we had a bit of a ‘skinne on the side’ at events.
Oh and it was “worse” when I had to write about her; it was never easy to interview her cos she’d be more interested in what I am doing as an Entertainer, DJ & Activist or she’d go off on a tangent about what she thought about a recent topic on Bruinou.com. It was very important to her the way that Coloured People, or as she said Bruinmense, are portrayed, not only in film and television, but in media, such as ours, and that it should be natural but not stereotypcal. I loved that about her.
Crystal Donna Roberts graduated from The University of the Free State in 2005 with a degree in Drama and Theatre Arts and this led her to appear in theatre productions such as Romeo & Juliet, where she played the lead role of Juliet.
After graduating, she moved back to Cape Town where she started teaching drama at a school.
We are quite happy that she chose not to permanently remain a teacher and became an Award Winning Actress, Presenter, & Author instead.
Crystal began working as a freelance professional actor in 2009 and dedicated herself to honing her craft, which led to securing significant roles.
That same year, she appeared in 7de Laan as Bijou in the first season of the SABC1 drama series. The following year, she portrayed Charmaine Willemse in Vallei van Sluiers, a kykNET drama. Her television appearances also include roles in Die Boland Moorde and Getroud Met Rugby, seasons 3 and 4. Additionally, she had a starring role in the series finale of Die Byl, a gripping crime drama.
Crystal Donna Roberts also featured in Skeem in 2011, Chronicle in 2012, The Endless River in 2015, and her award-winning role in Krotoa in 2017 for which she also won a SAFTA Best Actress Award in 2018.
It was also in 2018 that she had a starring role as Liesl in the kykNET sitcom Mense Mense.
Crystal Donna Roberts also made a name for herself as a television presenter and specifically as a field presenter for the popular Afrikaans magazine show Pasella.
In 2022 Crystal Donna Roberts also added the title of Published Author to her name with the completion of her first book, Speurder Sammi – Die Blou Steen, about 13-year-ols Sammi who visits her grandparents in the Northern Cape and has to deal with a whole lot of mystery and intrigue.
It was 6 years ago in 2019 that the beloved actress Crystal Donna Roberts announced that she was diagnosed with breast cancer, after which she had a double mastectomy and underwent chemotherapy, leading to her losing her hair.
Since then Crystal Donna Roberts has, whenever she was well enough, been very much at the forefront of creating awareness of cancer and particularly of breast cancer, notably participating in Cancer Association of South Africa – CANSA campaigns.
I have lost all direct contact with her these past two years, except for occassionally seeing an update on social media that someone else made about her. I took it that she had a lot to deal with in terms of her illness and that she needed her privacy to be respected.
I will never forget the huge amounts of joy that she brought to every conversation we had and how I was always trying to not go too heavily into fan-boy mode while she was always making me feel like an old friend.
My sincerest condolences to her loving husband Schalk Cornelessen and their family, her relatives and friends, her colleagues who I know loved her very much and also her many fans who will forever adore her. I am one of those fans.
Rest in Peace Beautiful Soul
