Sugarbaby role frightens Bokaba
TEENAGERS could learn a lot about self-esteem, infatuation, peer pressure and HIV if they watch Rhythm City, particularly Mampho.
She is a troubled girl trapped in loneliness and a pathological liar who sought love and affection from a sugardaddy.
Itumeleng Bokaba, 20, who plays Mampho, said she had to step out of her comfort zone for her character’s new storyline.
“What’s interesting is that these relationships [older man and younger woman] happen in communities but we are so quiet about it. My character gets enormous feedback from fans and I feel it must not be limited to television characters. Fans must voice their opinions on the real world,” she said.
The e.tv soapie has telenovela fans glued to the small screen with the storyline that portrays relationships formed between older men and teenagers.
Bokaba moved from a YoTV presenting gig to playing a vulnerable schoolgirl on Rhythm City.
“This [has been] a transition for me, a positive one in the sense that people now see me [as] a little older than my age. I have always been looked at as 12, at least now they think I’m 16,” said Bokaba laughing.
Bokaba also spoke about the intricacies of playing Mampho, including how her character’s direction made her nervous and how she related to the storyline.
“It’s frightening playing Jabu’s sugarchild, I feel vulnerable, it makes me sad. It’s uncomfortable. Mampho loses her voice around Jabu; what Jabu wants he gets because she is weak,” says Bokaba.
The young actor feels that she has never dated although an older man, she has learned from the role she plays.
“Girls dating older men are very aware that it is wrong. For me a healthy relationship gap is five years and unless we connect, someone older is impossible.
“It’s been very interesting to see that sugarbabies have it more difficult. I am seeing the stigma of hiding from parents. When you are with an older man you never feel free; it’s an uncomfortable feeling, an act of desperation.”
Bokaba believes girls dating older men are often lonely. She says she relates to her character because she has a friend who is just like Mampho.
“I think girls date older men when they feel lonely and sad. It’s an exchange relationship. Mampho fell for Jabu because she was avoiding her home situation of parents getting divorced and no one had time for her.
“I have a friend who dates older men. I think for her the type of business her mom runs is male [orientated] and she therefore spends her time trying to please these men. She is an adult who likes to date grandpas.
“I switch in reality to be the good friend like Reneilwe is to Mampho, trying to show her she is beautiful and can live a better life without a sugardaddy.”
Bokaba says playing Mampho is hard since the public cannot separate the character from the person on social media. “On social media I am told Mampho is stupid but the worst is hearing them say ‘I wish she can get HIV and die’, yet all I am doing is teaching the opposite. The way people think it’s so real, I get nervous in public, fearing I might get slapped.”
Bokaba feels that sugardaddy and sugarbaby relationships need to be addressed openly.
Rhythm City airs weekly at 6.30pm on e.tv.