LOVE, NONKA
An innocent first kiss for the twerk princess
Church by day, twerk by night, school all the time and supporting the family with side hustles: teenage Nonka Xaba (Thuthuka Mthembu) is too busy and too smart to put up with nonsense – especially from the likes of church youth leader Mrs Madlala (Ntombifuthi Dlamini) who acts like her ‘ thoughts and prayers’ are enough to fix Nonka’s all-too real problems. “Church youth leader Mrs Madlala irks Nonka the most. She feels like, ‘I’m going to do what I have to if it feeds my brothers. Stop judging me, I don’t care what you think’.” What Nonka has really learnt to understand is that no one’s got you the way that you’ve got you,” says Thuthuka. “Nonka realises that her own hustle is going to keep her going. She doesn’t want to rely on other people because she has gone through so much at such a young age. It’s such a reality for a lot of children who grow up in KwaMashu.”
DREAM A LITTLE
But it’s time Nonka stopped worrying and starts dreaming about her future. “We see more of the family uniting and it gives Nonka the chance to be a child again and not worry about everyone so much,” says Thuthuka. “She has put herself and her dreams aside to make sure that everyone is taken care of. It’s always been now-now! But we are going to see Nonka start to think for herself and about herself. That is hugely important, to think ahead, to be driven. Dreams are hope.”
LOVE A LOT
This fortnight of awakening is a time for firsts – including Nonka’s first kiss. “Every guy is more or less the same. They think a girl should be interested in them just because they are who they are. But her sweet new boyfriend Nsizwa (Sibusiso Shabang) is a genuine spirit. He is willing to prove his worth, like helping Nonka with her homework. He is her first appropriate love,’” says Thuthuka. “I wanted their first kiss to be innocent. It’s the biggest thing for me. I wanted it to be cute, to look like young love, that is exactly what it is. I wanted to show that they are experiencing this for the first time together. It’s exciting and it’s naïve.”
WORK THAT TWERK!
We asked Thuthuka about fans’ nonstop tweets about Nonka twerking. She laughs and says that she doesn’t mind if that’s what gets people talking about her first big role. “If they are excited to see Nonka twerk, they should be! That is the point of it – to get people excited about what they are going to see with the character and where she goes.”