Daddy’s girl
Trainee doctor Zekhethelo can’t cure herself of true love with a murderer.
Gangster daddy Nkunzi (Masoja Msiza) wouldn’t approve of his darling daughter Zekhethelo’s (Nyalleng Thibedi) flirting with Mxolisi (Nay Maps Maphalala) at all. But this bright, ambitious, thirdyear medical student has faith that it needn’t be a problem. “Nkunzi has such a soft spot for her,” says Nyalleng. “She’s the most important thing to her father and she knows how to handle him.” But on Tuesday 4 April, Zekhethelo slams on the brakes herself. “She finds out that Mxolisi is a criminal and she finds out by mistake in a social setting,” explains Nyalleng. “She is devastated and she wants nothing to do with him.” It’s not so-long-Mxolisi for love-struck Zekhethelo though.
MOTHERS & LOVERS
“Their connection is very deep, it’s spiritual. They connect like soulmates,” says Nyalleng. “It’s so deep the two of them don’t even understand it. And remember that Mxolisi has a university degree, so on an intellectual level they are also able to connect. He’s quickly become her best friend and now there is that void. You can see in her movements around the house that she’s not okay.” All is not lost though. Mxolisi will owe his mom Lindiwe (Dawn Thandeka King) big time after her heart-to-heart with Zekhethelo on Tuesday 11 April. Zekhethelo doesn’t want to worry her beloved mom Innocentia (Sthandwa Nzuza), so she turns to her dad’s new lover Lindiwe to open up. “Her take on things with Lindiwe and her father and her parents is that they are adults. So if her dad brings someone into his own space and that’s who he wants to be with, she separates that and doesn’t try to get too involved,” explains Nyalleng.
TWO TRUE HEARTS
Now more than ever Zekhethelo can’t judge her dad’s heart for wanting what it wants. And Nyalleng is hoping that viewers can see that special spark too. “There is a certain genuineness about Mxolisi’s interaction with Zekhethelo that will even make an outsider melt,” she says. “I want to show love in the deepest sense, something more than just a case of connection. I think that is at the centre of how a family forms.”