Tender bender
Melita is determined to keep her university canteen, but is she savvy enough to outbid Alfred and Alfios?
When it comes to tenders, things get messy in real life and the streets of Turfloop. One person about to learn that lesson is catering queen Melita (Hellen Motsuki). “It was a blow to her seeing the tender in the paper. She didn’t realise that her contract with Turf University was ending,” says Hellen, whose character feels blindsided. “How could her manager forget to tell her such an important piece of information? This affects Melita’s livelihood!” Melita has to race against the clock to put a proposal together to ensure she outbids everyone else. But the sharks are already circling her business.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Financially struggling Turf High deputy principal Alfred (Putla Sehlapelo) and tuckshop worker Alfios (Tebogo Modisane) have both seen the tender advert and they want their share of the pie – and all three entrepreneurs have a lot riding on this, says Hellen. “Alfred wants more than his earnings as an educator, he wants to provide more for his family. And Alfios wants to work for himself – he is tired of his boss Charles (Masilo Magoro) telling him what to do.”
FOOD FIGHT!
So the bidding battle begins this fortnight and if Hellen’s hints are anything to go by, things are going to get ugly. “We may see a different side to Melita,” warns the actress. “What we currently know is that Melita is calm and sweet, but we’ll see a fighter come out in her. Someone who refuses to give up once she sets her mind to something.” However, her drive to win the contract gets out of hand when her determination makes way for a good dose of paranoia when the bid submission date is extended after Alfred misses the deadline. “Melita automatically assumes that university big boss John (Africa Tsoai) decided to extend the date for Alfred’s sake. But John isn’t even part of the committee and has no say at all. Sadly, it seems Melita’s insecurities get the better of her.”
TOO MANY COOKS
Hellen says Melita isn’t the only one who will play dirty – Alfred is a wheeler dealer in his own right. He gets his son Nimza (Buhle Maseko) to dig up dirt on his rival. “It has something to do with how far Melita might have gone to get the contract in the first place…” is all that Hellen is willing to say. And smelling blood, Alfred is ready to attack with what Hellen calls “a psycho stalker move”. Melita had better get ready to for the fight of her life.