This highly successful actress, television presenter, producer and voice artist is also well known for her charity work; she is the chairperson of Childline in Gauteng and is also very involved with Powa, People Against Women Abuse.
International visitors may have seen her outstanding portrayal of the receptionist in Hotel Rwanda or read about her in last year’s Africa edition of Vanity Fair. She has also featured on British television screens, in the ITV series Wild At Heart. South Africans probably know her best for the five years she appeared in Generations, one of the country’s most popular soap operas;these days she appears most regularly on DSTV’s channel 53, where she produces and presents a show that focuses on the African continent.

All of this means that Rosie does plenty of traveling, both within Africa and beyond. Regardless of where she goes, she knows exactly where home is. “There’s nothing better than coming back home. Joburg has this rush but it’s not exhausting,” she declares over cappuccino in one of Illovo’s most popular restaurants. She’s on a high after a successful meeting with the national broadcaster to launch an initiative for one of the charities she’s associated with, and her mood is infectious.

“Joburg gives me a thrill like when I go to New York or London,” she says when I ask her how she feels about the city we both call home. Mastrantonio is one her favourite haunts, but there are many others: her couch, the library at the Melrose Arch hotel, the Saxon and the Westcliff. Sundays are for relaxing at Zoo Lake – though it’s hard to imagine that someone full of so much effervescent energy ever slows down. I feel the urge to drain a Red Bull just listening to her describe a recent evening: a girlfriend’s kitchen tea followed by dancing at Tokyo Sky, Moloko,  Latinova and Taboo respectively, before getting home at 7 in the morning. “In Joburg, clubbing culture very eclectic, cosmopolitan, integrated.”

When she says there’s a buzz here, she means it.

If Rosie is the epitome of that unique Joburg spirit  – always looking for new opportunities, never staying still for a moment – it’s hardly surprising. She’s a born and bred Joburger, growing up in Emmarentia, attending Parktown Girls high school and graduating with an honours degree in dramatic art from the University of the Witwatersrand.

Many of her earliest memories of the city involve going to Emmarentia Dam and the botanical gardens. Then there are the memories of the magical early morning smells of getting up early to drive to “Plett” – otherwise known as Plettenberg Bay, a popular town on the southern Cape coast and a perennial favourite of many Joburgers. She used to love the top of the Carlton Centre and often skated on the Skyrink as a child.

She has seen positive change over the years:

“Joburg is becoming incredibly cosmopolitan - lots of European influence, especially with all the Eastern Europeans who came out here,” she observes. “There’s an interesting café society that’s picking up.”

She’s also encouraged by how Braamfontein is reinventing the New York loft apartment style. The Alexander Theatre, recently reopened, is an exciting new development in an area that slipped into some decline during the 1990s.

These days she lives in Atholl. She’s clearly a Mastrantonio regular, judging by all the people who stop by our table to say hello.

“Do you know everyone in Joburg?” I ask after yet another fond exchange of “how are yous?”

She laughs. “I’m very sociable,” she smiles, and I believe her. Friends are important to her and she has plenty of them, from all walks of life; her brother calls them “the United Nations”. One of the informal groups in which she socializes is called The Pinkie Club and lunches together once a month.  “My mom likes to say, My daughter’s 33 and she’s one of those ladies who lunch!” she laughs.

That’s not to say Rosie can’t handle being alone. Like all good Joburgers, she is highly adaptable, and she’s just as good at having a great time singing along in her apartment to everything from Metallica to Pavarotti to Britney Spears (her favourite is Bon Jovi’s Living on a Prayer) as clubbing with friends. She’s also teaching herself to meditate and to enjoy time alone after the end of a relationship. “The power outages actually came at the perfect time for me!” she laughs.

Another sign of a true Joburger is someone who is perfectly happy behind the wheel of a car – which incidentally, is another perfect spot for singing at the top of her voice along to opera or rapping “totally out of tune!”

How has Joburg shaped her as a person? She pauses. “Joburg has given me the edge,” she says. “It has made me streetwise.” As a result, she is careful, but also careful not to let any fear of crime rule her life. Ironically, she has been mugged twice – both times in London.

Rosie firmly believes in the power of a positive attitude – “If you’re going to put negativity out there, only negativity will surround you” – but this does not mean she is oblivious of the challenges so many Joburgers face. Her own experiences of an abusive relationship have driven her to share her time and talents with others. Only recently, she was in the CBD marching along with other women in a march to protest against taxi drivers who attacked a woman for daring to wear a mini skirt.

Glamorous but street smart, success that hasn’t eroded a heart of gold: while we talk about the best things about Joburg, it occurs to me that Rosie herself is the best of Joburg. It’s people like her that make this city what it is.