It’s all relative
Every family has its secrets and thandaza is determined to make sure that the Nkosis don’t keep theirs buried.
aving relentless thandaza (sindi dlathu) on your case is exhausting, but her mom mankosi (cynthia shange) isn’t giving in or coming clean about what’s bothering her when it comes to issues of the past. so thandaza decides to do some sleuthing and discovers buried secrets that could change the entire nkosi clan’s lives.
skeletons in the closet
thandaza’s beside herself on thursday 19 february after learning a family secret. “she’s shocked,” says sindi. “how can the family keep quiet about this?” and what is the shocker? she has an uncle. it turns out mankosi’s long-lost brother, who left the country during the riots in the ’70s and never returned, may be alive and living in sa. thandaza tells her cousin thuli (simphiwe ngema) and the pair discuss the possibility of having an uncle they’ve never met. now she just needs to get mankosi to open up about her sibling. “it’s in thandaza’s nature to be persistent,” says sindi. “she can never just let things go. she saw something bothering mankosi and found out what it was and now she wants to know to what extent this secret goes.”
dead & buried
but thandaza’s mission is stopped in its tracks when her hubby ranthumeng (brian themba) and mankosi discover what she’s been up to on wednesday 25 february. “ranthumeng has an issue with thandaza’s meddling because she becomes emotional and dramatic and that affects their marriage,” sindi explains. but this time, it may well be worth it. “she’s found a man who matches her missing uncle’s description,” says sindi. “he checks all the boxes and she thinks that she’s found him.” they give in on thursday 26 february and agree to travel to swaziland to see the man, hoping that thandaza’s efforts weren’t in vain. friday 27 february sees malume themba (magic hlatshwayo) and mankosi come face-to-face with their longlost brother for the first time in years… he’s 40 years older than the last time they saw him, but they immediately realise that the man isn’t their brother bhekikhaya. as they head home, it’s difficult to accept that they may never find him, but now that the family secret’s out, it seems right to find him. “thandaza blames herself for this and her family feel the same, so it’s difficult for them to get over doing this,” says sindi. in thandaza’s mind, the only way to fix this is to find her uncle, but where to start?