Damage limitation
Cheating John asks his daughter-in-law Mokgadi for help.
Fixing a broken marriage is all the more difficult when there’s a public affair hanging over what a couple has built for years. Fierce businesswoman Meikie (Harriet Manamela) has suffered unrestricted humiliation since July after her Turfloop neighbours learnt that her “not-so-perfectafter-all” husband John (Africa Tsao) fell for younger single-mom Charity (Makgofe Moagi). But Meikie isn’t giving up on her vows and she’s out to save whatever is left of her marriage from Wednesday 13 September. “Like any married couple who’ve been together for a long time, Meikie and John had great moments. This is their first major low point for Meikie who is struggling to just up and leave her hubby of three decades,” says Harriet.
BEGGING AND PLEADING
Meikie’s sole focus is to bring her family together on Thursday 14 September. She humbly asks Charity to stay away from John, but Harriet says that “the tension is definitely there! Meikie is furious as she was the last person to find out about the affair”. But one thing remains: she’s going to have to put her pride aside if she wants her “perfect” life back. With the Maputla family growing further apart on Monday 18 September, Meikie’s sons Leeto and Tbose (Eric Macheru and Cornet Mamabolo) pressure their dad to stop humiliating their mother and choose once and for all: Meikie or Charity. “John comes to a realisation: that he’s actually fallen for Charity! He’s conflicted because this is not a silly teen affair. He has developed strong feelings for his mistress but he also wants to keep stay with his family,” explains Harriet.
READ ALL ABOUT IT
John knows that he can’t have the best of both worlds and he’s got to make a decision on Wednesday 20 September. And he gets some help that same day from the Turfloop Times, who splash his affair across its front page. “The scandal was leaked to a journalist at the paper and Meikie feels belittled. The whole world is now reading about John’s cheating,” says Harriet. John asks his daughter-in-law Mokgadi (Pebetse Matlaila) to help him clean his mess on Thursday 21 September. He wants journalist Mokgadi to run an interview with him, but Harriet warns that it’s only going to make things worse for her character. “John wants to divorce Meikie and she doesn’t have a clue. She won’t see this coming!”