An inconvenient truth
Chumani’s journey of self-discovery goes off the map as a deeply held secret emerges.
Despite the Langa family’s non-stop drama, Chumani’s (Ayanda Daweti) world was a comparatively simple place before he bumped into his out-and-proud old school friend Tshepo (Bohang Moeko) on Tuesday 3 April. Chumani’s sister Xoli (Sivenathi Mabuya) could sense on Friday 6 April that something about Tshepo was bothering Chumani. Nothing seems quite so simple anymore. “Prior to Tshepo coming to Joburg, there is nothing pertaining to this issue in his life,” explains Ayanda. “He is so clueless that he doesn’t know what is happening to him. He can feel that there is something wrong… not wrong, but different. There is this one element that he doesn’t know how to handle. He’d love to change that but he can’t and he doesn’t know what to do.”
NO ROOM FOR DIFFERENCE
Accepting that he’s in any way different is going to be a huge hurdle for Chumani in the coming weeks. Where he comes from in the rural Eastern Cape, people who don’t fit in are a problem. “They might be respected for who they are but where Chumani comes from, different people have to be treated differently. People pretend that they [people who are different] are part of the community, but deep down there is this feeling that this person is not. There’s that rejection, where people are neglected,” explains Ayanda. And Chumani is aware that this attitude towards difference could extend into his family. “He is faced with a lot of fear now. His father Siseko (Hlomla Dandala) is so cultural and to them, this [his difference] is a Western thing.”
A TIME OF QUESTIONING
Accepting this newly discovered truth about himself won’t be like flipping over the page of a calendar – it will shake Chumani to the core of his unquestioned beliefs about the world and his place in it. “To him, a man looks after those around him and he’s accountable for their actions. He believes that a woman can only do so much.” All this is going to change as he tries to imagine his future with that one little difference. “Those things are slowly not going to make as much sense to him as they used to, once he has accepted himself for who he is,” says Ayanda. “Chumani is going to start questioning things.”
IF SHE CAN SEE IT…
With so much up in the air, Chumani is alarmed when Xoli asks him a deeply personal question on Monday 16 April. “He is devastated,” reveals the actor. “Where they come from, it’s basically an insult. And he thinks to himself, ‘I can’t be that! Why would she say such a thing about me?’” Xoli’s question also sparks fears that this secret that he’s only started discovering about himself now, could already be obvious to those around him. “We grew up together. And it’s evident that what he is, is there for her to see.” It’s an uncomfortable thought. “He is in denial. He is scared of what will happen after,” explains Ayanda. “There is so much confusion that he’s hiding. He’s in a cage.” And as Chumani wrestles with his new-found knowledge, someone with hearts in their eyes will be in for a shock on Wednesday 18 April.
IN MY EYES
Ayanda gets where Chumani is coming from. “I grew up in rural Eastern Cape myself and I wasn’t exposed to such things growing up. Even if I was, people were perfect at hiding it, so we don’t see it. But when I started moving to study in other places like Cape Town or Pretoria and Joburg, I came to realise, ‘Wait, man! Why would you let people see [your truth] if other people are being killed and you are going to face so much hate? If other humans don’t accept and respect who we are?’” Ayanda advocates compassion though. “We don’t know a thing about ourselves even, so how can we come to another person and say they should not be like that?” he asks. “You cannot tell someone how they should live their life.”