From pest to guest
There’s always something fishy when Gloria’s on her best behaviour – and this time’s no different.
Scandal! Weekdays e.tv (*194) 19:30
Gloria Rangaka (Marjorie Langa) has been making a nuisance of herself by dropping in uninvited on her newlywed daughter Gontse (Khanyisile Zwane) and her husband Ndumiso (Andile Sithole) ever since they returned from honeymoon on Monday 28 November. Ndu even changed the locks on Monday 5 December to keep his mother-in-law out! But she’s back again on Wednesday 7 December and this time Gloria can’t afford to be kicked out.
“Gloria claims that she’s renovating the room that Gontse used to stay in because she needs tenants there for money, so it’s just going to be ‘for a little bit’,” says Marjorie. But Gontse isn’t letting her in the door without first laying down some rules. “She tells Gloria, ‘This is my husband’s house. He is no longer your tenant. You’d better respect him or you get out’,” reveals Marjorie. “So Gloria is overly nice to him. She cooks dinner and calls them Mr Ncobo and Mama Ncobo. His shoes are polished, his shirts are ironed… she does all of this for him, so Gontse feels like she’s the odd one out. But Ndu is like, ‘Don’t complain. This is what I’ve always wanted!’”
And it’s not just her treatment of Ndu that’s suspicious. At first it’s just Gloria, but then her TV moves in… and her sofa… and her wall unit. “They ask her, ‘Why are you bringing in these things? You said you were storing your stuff in the backroom’. She tells Ndu, ‘I’m bringing my expensive furniture in case someone decides to break in’. But her furniture is just sitting there, like clutter and things like her wall unit are useless in their house.”
Ndu knows when Gloria’s up to something and after a call from her neighbours on Friday 16 December, he goes to check on his mom-in-law’s house to see how renovations are going, only to uncover her shocking secret. It turns out that not even Gloria brings her furniture along if she’s only planning to stay “a couple of days”…
Detective Lerumo puts his skills to work on a real kidnapping case, with a little help from Romeo, as Lindiwe’s life is on a knife’s edge. Lerumo has to work out who’s lying when the criminals are telling him one story, while his other source spins a different tale. A forbidden kiss threatens to lead to trouble, and Damon weighs up Neo’s tempting offer but Neo needs Yvonne to make temptation even sweeter. Gontse is more suspicious than Ndu about what Gloria’s up to, and Gloria accidentally tells Stokkies why she’s visiting. Siseko receives a surprise visitor after Layla decides to throw a spanner in the works for Yvonne, while Romeo assures his partner in crime that they’re going to get away with it.