The devil you know…
Meet miles’s old rival doc dandala. He’s here to shake things up at Redemption and settle an old score.
wenty years ago, miles vilakazi (peter sephuma) and dwala “doc” dandala (dumisani mbebe) had stars in their eyes and dreamt of starting their own recording company after discovering would-be pop star rachel phakathi (lucia mthiyane). then doc slept with miles’s wife and the betrayal was too much for the young man’s mentor. a furious miles took revenge by taking rachel and forming redemption records… without doc. miles faces a murder trial and losing his company, but thursday 8 january sees his real nightmare begin.
blast from the past
“i love how miles and doc first come faceto-face after 20 years,” enthuses dumisani. “you can cut the tension with a knife.” the two have some nasty history and although doc’s to blame for how things ended, he feels wronged that he’s never been able to break through into the music industry. “he’s a successful businessman who’s done well for himself, but he’s been following miles’s progression in the music industry and saw the gap when he read that miles was going through a court case and selling redemption,” says dumisani. miles was upset after zolani (melusi mbele) sold redemption in november 2014. but wait until he finds out who’s bought it: doc!
the end of redemption records
meanwhile, miles is dealt with one blow after another as he learns on monday 12 january that his fiancée victoria (molobane mbatha) will testify against him. then s’fiso (dumi masilela) tries to disassociate himself from miles for fear of losing his job under doc. wednesday 14 january then sees miles learn about doc and his one true love – redemption. “anything that says ‘miles’ has to go,” says dumisani of doc’s need to clean house. starting with the name. redemption now becomes red and s’fiso’s shown the door when doc instructs zolani to fire him on friday 16 january. “he’s just got here and hasn’t had time to evaluate anyone on their performance, so it’s definitely personal,” he says. this isn’t just to remove all traces of miles, but to ensure that whatever happens within red’s walls, stays there.
bossy boots?
as miles heads for court on monday 19 january, life goes on at red as doc briefs his team on finding new talent. “doc comes across as being bossy but it’s only because he knows what’s going to work,” says dumisani. “he calls the shots and is hands-on. he leads from the thick of things.” perhaps they’ll adapt and maybe their loyalty issues will fade, but for the time being, miles is going through hell.