Major fail
Lindiwe Ngema’s cheating scheme blows up in her face.
Scandal! Weekdays e.tv (*194) 19:30
“So Lindiwe is in trouble again…” we tease Nomvelo Makhanya, who plays Scandal!’s naughty girl. “It’s that time of the year,” she agrees, laughing. But this is no ordinary year – 2016 is Lindiwe’s grade 11 and she has stumbled spectacularly. On Tuesday 1 November, Lindiwe’s fun buddy at work Romeo (Hungani Ndlovu) offered to help relieve some of her stress by stealing her next exam paper for her.
“At first she was like, ‘No, I would never do that. Ngema people don’t do that – we don’t cheat.’ But then the pressure just becomes too much for Lindiwe and she’s, like, ‘Okay, you know what? I would rather die than fail’,” Nomvelo admits. “I don’t necessarily condone it but as kids we are pushed to a certain point because of the pressure that you’re getting from your family, your friends and everyone who wants you to be this perfect person who does everything so perfectly. So I’m not for it but at the same time I kind of understand,” says Nomvelo. “Romeo offered his help and she fell for it. He was like, ‘Don’t cheat like an idiot – be smart when you cheat. Just go for 10% more than you usually get so that no one is suspicious of it.’” Nasty but fairly simple. Alas though, this is Lindiwe the drama magnet. It all spirals out of control for her, from when she confides in her best friend Mary (Mikateko Hlabangwane) about cheating, to when she winds up running away from home in the middle of the exams on Monday 21 November. Lindiwe, what have you done?
I’VE BEEN FRAMED!
We’re feeling a little proud of Lindiwe actually, because she makes that badly timed leap from the frying pan into the fire for the sake of her friendship with Mary. On Thursday 17 November, when Mary is accused of a crime she didn’t commit at school (the kind you get expelled for!) Lindiwe realises that it’s no coincidence – she’s to blame. “It comes as a shock. It’s a shock to both her and Mary,” reveals Nomvelo. “Mary starts crying. She’s a very sensitive girl. She cries about everything! You can see the guilt in Lindiwe’s eyes. It’s like, ‘What have I done now?’ I just got my best friend into trouble and I didn’t even know about it.” As for how Mary gets framed in the first place, that’s a whole new scandalous secret. Just wait and see…
FLEEING THE SCENE
In an effort to save Mary’s reputation, Lindiwe starts burning bridges left and right, but she’s not brave enough to stick around to face the music. So on Monday 21 November, she packs her bags in a panic. “She’s going to get a hiding and they are going to send her back home to KZN. And that’s over for her. Her life is basically over,” explains Nomvelo. “She packs a bag of clothes. She takes everything – she takes her cellphone but maybe not a charger because everything just happens quickly. Just before she leaves, her brother Scelo (Mbulelo Ndlazilwana) comes in and speaks to her and everything seems okay, but you can see, okay this child is about to run away. There’s nothing that’s going to stop her now. She’s made that decision that she can’t face her parents after what happened.”
RUNNING TO ROMEO
Who does she run to? Romeo, who’s living up to his name after their first kiss on Friday 4 November. “There’s a romantic thing going on between them,” admits Nomvelo. But Romeo is furious with Lindiwe for shooting her mouth off, sending Lindiwe in despair. Hiding in an alley, with her phone battery dying, she has nowhere to turn. And when Lindiwe’s disappearance sparks an uproar on Tuesday 22 November, Romeo comes up with yet another terrible plan. Check out our quarterly preview on p16 for a hint!