Ngcobo s career blossoms in new role
Actor plays hospital CEO in drama series Durban Gen
Shemight be a late bloomer, having started her professional acting career at the age of 49, but Dudu Ngcobo has star quality. Ngcobo, 52, who appears in the new drama series Durban Gen on e.tv as Dr Qwabe, and as Babekazi in Uzalo, has proven that she has what TV directors are always looking for in an actor. Considering that her break came by chance in 2016 after assisting film students from AFDA to put together a soapie for their final year, the former trade unionist has done well getting roles in movies such as A Mothers Gift, Umqhele, Umdalo Wempilo and Uthando Lwethu.
In dramas series, she has appeared in Greed and Desire, Isithembiso, Ikhaya S2, Ehostela, Muvhango and The Scam.
Her career began with Mzansi Magic movie Quantumof Terror where she acted alongside Wiseman Ncube, who portrays Sbonelo on Uzalo.
Ngcobo was thrown in at the deep end because she learnt all her acting tricks as she was shooting the movie.
“... the first role I got, I did not even audition, they just gave me a script and I was lost. Wiseman was the one who was teaching me about camera angles. ”
But her first big role is on Durban Gen, where she portrays the role of the hospital CEO. She describes Dr Qwabe as a no-nonsense person who fights with doctors every time a patient loses their life. From a viewer’s point of view, Qwabe oozes an interesting combination of qualities.
She comes across as a classy and educated woman but as soon as she opens her mouth you are taken aback by the amount of slang she uses.
Dr Qwabe is a woman who is passionate about her work and she lives for it. Her weakness is that she treats the public hospital like a private one. Though there is a problem of resources since it is a government hospital, she manages to get everything she wants for the hospital. She is very streetwise. Dr Qwabe does not say you are out of line but she says uyabheda.
Through the show directors try to show that as much as you are educated there is nothing wrong with speaking your own language. Even doctors at the hospital speak a language that everyone can relate to. The aim of the show is to promote the sense of ubuntu among health workers. People are not treated well in health institutions and with Durban Gen we are saying you can make a hospital environment welcoming to patients.”
The self-taught actor says when preparing for the role, she had to do a lot of research to understand the role of hospital CEOs.
Born in Lamontville, Durban, Ngcobo spentmany years working for the National Union of Mineworkers of SA’s HIV/Aids desk as the national coordinator in Newtown, Johannesburg.