Newman returned to South Africa in 1974 to study social work and found a job at the housing office in Hanover Park.
Her first major acting role was in Political Joke, directed by Jean Naidoo and written by Peter Snyders.
[1] In 1982, Newman made her film debut as Yvonne Jacobs, a colored supermarket clerk who falls in love with a white man, in City Lovers.
Newman received the Best Supporting Actress award at the Carthage Film Festival for her performance.
[5] Ray Bennett of the Associated Press wrote that she gave an "extraordinary performance" that "will set the bar for best actress awards this year if Oliver Hermanus' "Shirley Adams" wins the worldwide audiences it deserves.