Rhythm City
Suffocate’s sangoma helps him get his life back on track.
Rhythm City Weekdays e.tv (*194) 19:00
Club owner Suffocate (Mduduzi Mabaso) is on a mission to cleanse his life. He’s had a run of bad luck and it’s mostly to do with his wives Niki and Puleng (Nolo Phiri and Tebogo Khalo) and his brother Themba (Sphamandla Dhlu-dhlu). May took the most toll with Themba kidnapping pregnant Puleng, then vanishing into thin air. So on Friday 26 May, Suffo visits his friendly neighbourhood sangoma (Thabang Majola).
THE TRUTH OF THE MATTER
“The sangoma tells Suffo to find his newborn baby,” says Mduduzi, but the only newborn that he knows of right now is Puleng’s – and he’s not the dad. Doctors told him last year that a medical incompatibility with Puleng meant that they would never have a child, and since Themba and Puleng had an affair in mid-2016, the baby must be Themba’s. “Suffo’s confused by the sangoma’s advice,” Mduduzi explains, “but the supernatural advisor gives him hope that the baby is his and that there might be a chance to reunite with his estranged true love Puleng.”
On Monday 29 May, Suffo makes a beeline for the hospital where he had a paternity test performed in November 2016. He never went fetched the results as he was so certain that the baby was Themba’s, “But now this guy wants the truth,” Mduduzi states. The hospital confirms that Suffo is the dad but there is another problem. Suffo learns that Niki got them first. She’s been leading Suffo on, hoping to tie the knot with him again now that Puleng has taken “Themba’s” baby to KwaZulu-Natal for the family’s naming ceremony. “He realises that Niki has lied to him. Suffocate is angry because she knows how important a baby is to him and this is betrayal,” says Mduduzi. “He cancels his wedding to Niki right away.”
OLD WIFE, NEW LIFE?
With his liar ex out of the way, Suffo’s clear to make amends with his babymama. On Thursday 1 June he rushes to KwaZulu-Natal and interrupts the traditional ceremony. Suffo tells Puleng that he wants her back “and she’s stunned,” says Mduduzi. “He left her for Niki, remember, so she doesn’t want anything to do with him.” Suffo pleads with her again on Friday 2 June to give them another chance. Mduduzi adds that “for now, his goal is to have a family with Puleng. Getting back at Niki can wait a while…”