Mother of all battles
Zandile lashes out after Lindiwe and Mxolisi’s roles in Nkosinathi’s death is exposed.
Uzalo Mon-Wed SABC2 (*191) 20:30
It’s been almost a year since Zandile Mdletshe’s (Leleti Khumalo) son Nkosinathi (Sipho Mhlongo) was murdered in mid-February 2016. And when Detective Mondli (Thembinkosi Thwala) tells Zandile that the police may have traced his body to the Xulus’ panelbeaters on Wednesday 18 January, she’s devastated and desperate to get him back. Driven by grief, she confronts Lindiwe and Mxolisi Xulu (Dawn Thandeka King and Nay Maps), accusing them of killing Nkosinathi. “Lindiwe asks, ‘Can you really believe this?’ She goes on to say that she thinks the police are trying to get in between them,” says Leleti. “She says anything and everything that will get her out of the situation and poor Zandile believes her.” When the cops don’t find a body after all, Zandile reaches out to make peace with Lindiwe. But those lies will be thrown back in both their faces…
CRUEL CLUES
With Mondli safely in disgrace on Mon-
day 23 January, Mxolisi and Lindiwe carry out the grizzly task of digging Nkosinathi’s corpse out from under the office and reburying it on unmarked land. And after Lindiwe bonds with Zandile over the fact that they’ve raised one another’s sons on Tuesday 24 January, she suggests to Mxolisi that they let Zandile know where to find her son’s body. Protecting themselves at all costs, the pair resort to an unusually callous and cruel way of giving Zandile the clues she needs to find the body – anonymous SMSes. “Zandile is shattered,” says Leleti. “She ends up not knowing what to do because she keeps getting all these messages – from Hlengiwe (Gugu Gumede), from the police – and they end up not being true. She is devastated. She blames the whole world and God. She thinks that she’s going to wake up and find out that it was just a dream.”
GRIEF, RAGE & PAIN
This time though, the information is real and Nkosinathi’s remains are found on Wednesday 25 January, followed by a memorial service on Monday 30 January. “That day is so painful, it’s like someone is putting needles in Zandile’s heart,” says Leleti. “It’s like a sore you could touch and feel.” It’s in this state of mental agony that Zandile receives the final blow from Lindiwe’s sister Jabulile (Nompumelelo Ndlovu), who plays her the recording Mondli made of Lindiwe and Mxolisi discussing what they did to Nkosinathi. “She nearly dies when she recognises their voices,” reveals Leleti. “She remembers that she went and confronted them, Lindiwe and Mxolisi, and they said that this is not possible. She lived with Mxolisi for the longest time after he was released from jail – all of these things come into her mind. She is like a mad person from that instant.”