Mfolozi Street
Sonto’s new man has a friend who’s interested in more than just helping Dollar get to the top in the new season of Mfolozi Street.
Mfolozi Street Season 2 Thursdays (from 11 February) SABC1 20:30
“From day 1, people aren’t going to like Senamela,” says Luthuli Dlamini proudly. It’s two years since we last saw the residents of Mfolozi Street (2014- current) and we’re introduced to new character Senamela, played by Luthuli, who’s described as a nasty piece of work who’s after Sonto (Hlubi Mboya) and is willing to get into her pants by any means necessary. The worst part? Her new beau Dollar (Simo Magwaza) isn’t opposed to the idea. As long as he can piggy-back off Senamela’s success, it doesn’t matter who gets hurt. Although Luthuli’s character is only in a few episodes at the beginning of season 2, Senamela’s appearance on Mfolozi Street is about
to change the course of Sonti’s life without her having a say. What’s the first impression Senamela gives when we meet him? He’s dirty, nasty and manipulative. He lusts over other men’s women and uses his status to influence others, in this case Dollar, whom he’s good friends with. Dollar’s always looked up to Senamela, while the opposite is true with Senamela’s view of him. Dollar is so busy trying to show that he’s worthy of joining Senamela’s world of tenderpreneurship and together they devise a plan to get Sonto to drop her knickers. Based on that, how would you describe the character? He’s even worse. Under his charming and sweet exterior lies a pretentious philanderer who mixes business with pleasure and always gets what he wants. Well, almost always… Despite his money and power, not everyone’s willing to play ball and they pay the price. How does his presence affect the lives of
the other characters? The only reason that he is Dollar’s friend is to use him. He looks for like-minded people to make him rich and when Dollar puts his girlfriend on the line for a chance to join Senamela’s business ventures, he looks down on him even more but also relishes the possibility of bedding Sonto just by accepting Dollar into his inner circle. What neither of them realise is that their hold on Sonto isn’t as strong as they’d thought, costing Dollar the deal and Sonto her cushy lifestyle with her kids and boyfriend.
How do you relate to him? I don’t [Laughs]. I take it from others and how they behave. I have far more respect and subtlety when it comes to women. I had to learn the behaviour in order to understand where it came from and to portray it as accurately as possible. What’s the most challenging part about this role? It was a nice challenge to play him because I despise him. I enjoy going to places I’ve never been. I had to rape a girl in one scene and it was terrible and it taught me about the kind of character I like and ones I don’t like.