Starting in the 1961 during apartheid, Nkonyeni and others who wanted to change their lives using the stage met with Athol Fugard and formed the Serpent Players.[2][3] In 1981, she played the lead role in Die Swerfjare van Poppie Nongena (The Long Journey of Poppie Nongena), at the CAPAB (Cape Performing Arts Board) theatre in Cape Town.[4] She said, “I was the first black person to perform on that stage and when that door opened, I never shut it.”[4]