Man of the house
Presley Chweneyagae is transforming his character Cobra from tsotsi gangster to head of the Mokoena house.
Without him realising, eldest Mokoena child Thuso aka Cobra (Presley Chweneyagae) is also their biggest disappointment. Cobra was a varsity drop-out who ditched his computer science studies for “the easy life” as a criminal, albeit with one or two run-ins with the law. That mentality took a change in episode 1 of The River in late January this year when Cobra’s miner dad Thato (Don Mlangeni) was murdered and Cobra thought about turning over a new leaf, hints Presley. “Cobra really isn’t a bad guy. He grew up in a poor community. He really wants to make good decisions, but he’s led astray by bad friends. He wants to be someone who his sisters Itumeleng and Dimpho (Larona Moagi and Matshepo Sekgopi) can look up to, but he just can’t seem to straighten out his life,” laments Presley.
Did Cobra have dreams before he became a gangster? Of course – and he realises that he still has time to fix his life. He’s in his 30s and he wants to look after his family now that his father is dead. Cobra wants to open a business the legal way and he hopes that he will be able to make money the clean way. What was his father-son relationship like with Thato? It had been strained since Cobra gave up his studies. Thato got him a job at the mines but Cobra was caught stealing and was fired. Cobra’s dream was to turn his life around and to make Thato proud, but Thato died before he got the chance. Cobra has the chance to make things right now and be a better son to his mother Malefu (Moshidi Motshegwa). You played a hijacker named Tsotsi in the 2006 Oscar-winning film of the same name – what’s different about your two roles? Tsotsi was ruthless and because he was an orphan, he had no one to turn to. Cobra, on the other hand, has his family who would do anything for him. Even though he has let them down countless times, they still root for him. How will Cobra cope as the new man of the house when his mom suffers emotional breakdowns [from Monday 16 April]? He becomes the breadwinner and he lets his mom figure her things out. Cobra appreciates Malefu and doesn’t want to lose another parent, so he takes the opportunity and leads his family.