Polishing the knives
A maid’s uniform becomes a superhero’s disguise to bring down an evil madam in local drama Housekeepers.
Housekeepers Season 1 Mondays Mzansi Magic (*161) 20:00
The doors to success slammed shut for young lawyer Linda Ndlovu (Thando Thabethe) the moment that greedy and selfish Boniswa
Mzobe (Zikhona Sodlaka) – the would-be Mrs Zwide – framed Linda’s sweet and gentle mother June (Clementine Mosimane) for the murder of June’s patient, the mentally unstable former Mrs Zwide, Veronica (Nthati Moshesh). Unable to bear the sight of her mom fearfully sobbing in a police interrogation room, Linda is prepared to go to any lengths to clear June’s name. But evidence has been concealed, false testimony has been given, and the police’s investigation has been lazy to put it politely. Linda’s trust in the law might have been shattered, but her belief in justice burns all the stronger as she goes undercover as the new housekeeper in the Zwide household. Who better to uncover the hidden truth about the Zwides than someone they treat as if she’s invisible? “It’s a very sad story and very dramatic. Truly just very emotional,” says Thando.
THE MADAM
The new head of the house Boniswa gave Linda a humiliating look-over as though she was buying lounge furniture before hiring her in episode 2 (on Monday 15 October). But Thando points out that being called “girl” in that dismissive tone is going to be the least of Linda’s worries in the coming months. “I don’t think that it was the worst of it, she has much bigger things to stress about,” explains the actress. “She’s a very smart girl. She studied to be a lawyer and she was set on a path of success. She is very stubborn, very passionate, outspoken and go-getting. However, in her role as a housekeeper, Linda has to downplay these otherwise beautiful attributes so as to not upset her madam. She has to live under the same roof as the Zwides [the people she know callously framed her mom] and she has to park her dreams of being a lawyer.”
ONE OF THE FAMILY
Housekeepers will explore the strange intimacy between housekeepers and their employers and how easily that relationship crosses all sorts of lines, while other lines run secretly and deeply uncrossable. When some people say that their housekeeper is “practically” part of the family, Thando explains that “I think they mean practically in the sense that you walk among us but you are not one of us. You can eat with us, just not on the same plate. It’s sad really”. Thando is familiar with how close that relationship can be. “My helper, I have known for many years. She used to clean for my brother long before I even owned a house. Her sister used to braid my hair as a child, so she raised me.” For Thando, the relationship is complicated by the economic realities of the job. “I think how much they earn is the number-one concern: do they have funeral cover, medical aid, pension? All the things that a socalled formalised job affords you.” And in this show, it’s that financial vulnerability that got the Zwides’ previous helper murdered in episode 2 when she tried to blackmail her bosses after falling into the hands of a loanshark.
ALLIES
As Linda digs into her role, one of her priorities is to establish ties to the other housekeepers in the area, including Maria (Connie Chiume), the woman nodding at her in the opening flash-forward scenes of the series as she set about murdering the Zwides! “She finds a mother in Maria, someone she can truly trust and someone who lends a helping hand in a dire moment,” says Thando, who has nothing but praise for her co-star. “Connie is remarkable. What a beautiful soul and what an honour for me to work alongside this legend.” That relationship pays off on Monday 12 November when Maria manages to save Linda’s job in a crisis, and then on Monday 19 November, viewers will watch as Linda’s relationship with the other housekeepers grows. But the closer she gets to them, the more that Linda’s lies will start to weigh on her conscience.