From hero to zero
Zandile is taking back her life on Diamond City, but that will be an uphill battle for the murder-accused character.
Diamond City Season 1 Sundays SABC1 (*191) 20:00
When the going gets tough, hot-shot lawyer Zandile (Noxee Maqashala) is forced to take an attack position, ready to fight back on SABC1 drama series Diamond City (2018- current). “She refuses to hide under a blanket in her prison cell, waiting for this time to pass by,” says Noxee. “She was framed for a murder she definitely didn’t commit and now she wants to fight for her freedom and to restore her name.” Zandile can’t afford to throw in the towel, adds the actress. “She has spent her career building a good name for herself as a professional. She is not going down for a crime that she has nothing to do with.” But getting evidence to clear her name is proving to be a difficult task because the only people who can help her are her fellow convicts, many of whom she sent to prison herself.
WOMAN AT WAR
“She’s sleeping with one eye open,” says Noxee, whose character knows
that she isn’t safe in prison and she could be murdered any time, any day, anywhere. “She wants to prove her innocence and get out before something happens to her.” Making matters worse, her prison wardens have restricted her movements, her access to computers and books – she can’t go to the toilet without asking permission. “We researched what it’s like in a real prison and drew on that to make her position seem as hopeless as it really is,” adds the actress.
THE MAN IN THE MASK
What Zandile is struggling most to cope with is knowing that the man who framed her is also the man she grew up admiring, who’s mentored her and nurtured her and helped her grow. “How could her life crumble like this because of a person that she trusted? How could he be so cruel? She’s devastated,” says Noxee with a sigh. Her assailant is more powerful than her, has access to more resources and he has done a perfect job with putting her in prison. “Her mind is racing and she keeps asking herself, ‘Why me? What am I to him? How will this help him in life?’” But Zandile isn’t ready to give up the fight just yet, says Noxee: “In the limited books she has access to, she finds something that could free her. Or at least help her with her case. Now she must just stay alive long enough to fight.”