Honouring Bra Eddie
Scandal! script producer Grace Mahlaba talks about how the soapie’s cast and crew are coming to grips with the passing of Sandy Mokwena and saying goodbye to Eddie.
Scandal! Weekdays e.tv (*194) 19:30
When 68-year-old Sandy Mokwena died unexpectedly on Wednesday 24 January, Scandal! (2005- current) not only lost a beloved friend and one of their three remaining original cast members (the other two are Kagiso Modupe, who plays Mangi, and Joyce Skefu, who plays Eddie’s wife, Tsatsi) – they also lost a vital part of their story. While the team is mourning, they also need to figure out how to honour Sandy’s 13 years on Scandal! and which scenes need to be re-shot and re-written. Script producer Grace Mahlaba reveals what has happened behind the scenes…
GETTING THE NEWS
“It was such a blow. It was still early morning as I walked into production. Nobody told me but I knew there was death, everybody’s eyes were red. When they told me that Baba was gone, it was a shock! Even when you can see a person is sick, you are never prepared to get that kind of news. Ever. Everybody was crying, from the cleaners to directors and producers. We gave everyone the day off because we weren’t going to be able to work. Our lives stood still. My life was not normal from 07:15 that day until the day that we buried him (on Friday 2 February). There were phonecalls. People wanted to know what happened. What’s going to happen in the story? Everybody was sending condolences, all the other soapies like Isidingo (1998- current). I have never seen such a reaction. I couldn’t leave the office because we were taking all these calls,” says Grace.
DETERMINED ’TIL THE END
“The irony is that we had started to re-write some of Sandy’s scenes from last year October because we could tell that he was not well. He’s in an A-storyline, which affects one of the original characters – Mangi. There was no way that anyone else was going to do that story but him. The story is about their history,” explains Grace. “The first week in January I went to see him and he was very sick. He was lying on the couch when I saw him. He took his walking stick and tried to show me that he could walk. He said, ‘It’s not the brain that is the problem, it’s the legs.’ He insisted on coming in and working [on Wednesday 17 January]. So we said, ‘We will send someone to pick you up and bring you the scripts to read’. We thought that maybe by the morning he would have changed his mind. But you know, Sandy was a very stubborn man. When he has spoken, that thing is done. We asked if we could take him round to the studio so he didn’t have to take the steps and he said, ‘No. I am going to go in the door that I always go in’. And he did. He walked through that door. He went to wardrobe. He went to make-up. Went to set,” shares Grace.
3 000
“Sandy got through his last scenes – there were only two with him that we were shooting that day. He came down and I went back to him and said, ‘How did that feel?’ And he said, shying away from looking me in the eyes, ‘I think it might be time for me to rest. But I promise you I will come back’. I said, ‘That’s fine. We will check with you and when you feel strong, you will come back.’ That was the last day he came to shoot with us. We received the news the next Wednesday morning that he was no more. I still don’t know how I feel about it – that I didn’t realise it was such a powerful day. I only realised that we were filming the 3 000th episode later on! A scene overlapped into episode 3 001 and 3 002, but he wanted to be there for 3 000. What a man,” says Grace. “Sandy came to
a place where he did what he loved most, which was acting. He was part of our family. He was someone who didn’t want to be a star but it was so important for us that day to treat him like one: ‘Are you okay, Baba? Can I get you water? Can I get you this?’ We didn’t know that we would do that for the last time. I get goosebumps when I think of that day.”
END SCENE
Viewers will still see Eddie onscreen until the final scenes that Sandy shot for Scandal!’s episode 3 002, which is scheduled to air on Thursday 22 March. Grace adds that those scenes are really precious to her. “Eddie is in a scene where a scandal has erupted. Somebody has sabotaged
Quinton (Brighton Ngoma). And then he comes to do damage control and to support him. His character is an anchor. He is a man of reason. He’s the man who when things are very, very bad, his word is final. And that’s what Sandy came to do in that particular scene. He tells them, ‘It’s going to be fine, I am here for you’. And Quinton says, ’But you’re not supposed to be here,’ and he says, “No, I had to come back for you”. To be here for you.’”