A Pretty disaster
Pretty is forced to stay at home with her controlling mom Ma’Ntuli when her varsity plans don’t pan out.
Skeem Saam Weekdays SABC1 (*191) 18:30
The uncertainty around Pretty’s (Lerato Marabe) future is causing a rift in the Seakamela house. For starters, the matric graduate only applied to study at the University Of Cape Town, who’ve rejected her because she didn’t write the National Benchmark Test (NBT). Not that she actually knew what she was going to study anyway. Planless Pretty is now driving her mom Ma’Ntuli (Dieketseng Mnisi) up the wall staying at home on Wednesday 31 January and the mother and daughter are arguing non-stop. “The family are frustrated with Pretty’s negligence,” explains Lerato.
Pretty has her own excuse though. While her classmates were preparing for their lives after high school, she got wrapped up in her sister Sthoko’s (Innocent Sadiki) marital issues and she put off writing her NBT. “No one understands what Pretty is going through and she is stressed out. Although Ma’Ntuli shows her concern by screaming and shouting at Pretty, it isn’t helping. The teen feels like a failure and she’s so desperate that she’s considering studying anywhere – even if that means staying in Turfloop, her scariest nightmare,”says Lerato. And right now, Ma’Ntuli will make sure that her “embarrassment” daughter gets her act together and moves out.
TEENAGE DRAMA
Tremendous pressure and an alreadystrained mother- daughter relationship is a recipe for disaster. With Pretty’s teen hormones ragging, she snaps on Thursday 1 February when her mom suggests she apply to study in Turf. “Usually, Pretty doesn’t talk back to Ma’Ntuli, but she is tired of being questioned. She tells Ma’Ntuli to stay out of her business as she’ll manage,” says Lerato. Ma’Ntuli is left speechless by Pretty’s unruly behaviour and she didn’t expect such a disrespectful tone from her daughter, adds the actress. “Ma’Ntuli’s fears for Pretty stem from her own issues. She doesn’t want Pretty to end up like her, struggling to get by. She lets Pretty get away with backchat but that doesn’t mean that she’s going to drop Pretty in her time of need.”
DAMAGE CONTROL
Like most meddling and well-intending moms, Ma’Ntuli goes behind Pretty’s back and gets her bestie Meikie (Harriet Manamela) to ask her lecturer hubby John (Africa Tsoai) to pull strings for Pretty at Turfloop University. Meikie returns with exciting news for Pretty on Monday 5 February but “Pretty isn’t thrilled. She doesn’t want to stay in Turfloop as it means staying at home with her family. But it’s too late and Pretty has no option but to take the offer,” says Lerato. Desperate times call for desperate measures and “she feels like her hands are tied. For an A student, she didn’t make wise choices regarding her future. It’s haunting her. She will just have to do one year in Turfloop and move to another varsity later on in the year,” explains Lerato. “That is the only thing she can do now.”
BURYING THE HATCHET
With her studies more or less sorted, Pretty can get on with her life, starting with mending the broken bridge with her mom. She reaches out to Ma’Ntuli on Tuesday 6 February to apologise for talking out of place. “They pour their feelings out to each other,” says Lerato. The talk is exactly what they need with Pretty spending another year at home. “They understand each other more, so hopefully they won’t argue as much. They also promise to be transparent with each other,” explains Lerato. But what Ma’Ntuli doesn’t know is that her open, honest and transparent daughter is secretly planning to leave Turfloop the second an opportunity pops up…