Drama, drama, drama
Uzalo brought us weddings, murders, funerals, intrigue and so many wigs!
2018? Oh, that was the year that MaNgcobo (Dawn Thandeka King) put on a wedding dress, got out her gun and crashed her commonlaw husband Nkunzi’s (Masoja Msiza) wedding to her former best friend MaMlambo (Gugu Gumede) on Monday 24 and Tuesday 25 September. She told them off in front of God and everyone in the congregation until Nkunzi promised to marry them both – but MaNgcobo first, of course! Those were the most-watched episodes ever broadcast on South African TV, with 10.2 million viewers tuning in. The vows and traditional ceremony made us jump for joy like Nkunzi, but that wasn’t the only storyline that got us talking about Uzalo.
DOUBLE FUNERAL
The year got off to a tragic start with MaNzuza’s (Leleti Khumalo) funeral on Friday 16 February and Smangele’s (Sihle Ndaba) dramatic memorial on Wednesday 21 February. Who can forget Mastermind (TK Dlamini) taking out his pistol and firing tribute shots into the air or a wrecked Mxolisi (Nay Maps Maphalala) singing brokenly but beautifully over his mother’s coffin? Both women died following a shootout at the church on Friday 9 February during which, as we later found out, Mxolisi shot his mother MaNzuza and Mastermind killed his sister Sma.
SET IT OFF!
MaNgcobo gave her gangster hubby Nkunzi a nasty Easter surprise on Friday 30 March when she and her lightfingered thrill-junkie cousin Lady Die (a fabulous Khanyi Mbau in bright purple wigs) led their all-female gang to secretly intercept Nkunzi’s heist and snatch R4 million all for themselves. After cheating her “sisters” out of their share, MaNgcobo laid the foundation for her new empire Club Genesis.
GOODBYE GXHABASHE
On Friday 4 May, the KwaMashu Xulus were told that Muzi “Gxhabashe” Xulu (Mpumelelo Bhulose) was dead for real this time – being attacked in prison is a lot more fatal than being shot in the leg. And surprise, surprise, MaNgcobo and Qhabanga (Siyabonga Shibe) had conspired to have her first husband killed to stop him from telling Nkunzi that he didn’t give MaNgcobo the startup money for her club. Muzi’s family barred MaNgcobo from attending the funeral on Friday 15 May and she was determined to crash it, but Muzi’s brother Mkhonto (Bonga Dlamini) warned her that she’d go home in her own coffin if she showed up.
THE BIG MEN GO DOWN
The soap has a bullet with everyone’s name on! But when Nkunzi was gunned down on Tuesday 26 June, who would have thought romantic jealousy would have driven simple thug Sbu (Simphiwe Majozi) to do the deed? Uzalo wove an impressive amount of detail – and love – into Nkunzi’s long, slow recovery that really paid off in September. And there were wails of distress from fans when Mastermind was caught red-handed during a heist and went down in a hail of bullets on Tuesday 7 August. We rejoiced when he reappeared alive and well behind bars in late December.
…AND ALL THIS
We haven’t even touched on dramaqueen GC’s (Khaya Dladla) return and his dirty panties in the salon wash basin in July, the horrific albino muti-murder and trafficking storyline throughout September, as well as Nosipho’s (Nompilo Maphumulo) epic dream quest to find her ancestors’ graves and make the Xulu land claim in October, or even Mxolisi’s suicide attempt on Monday 31 December. Uzalo is too much!
WHAT WE WANT IN 2019
We want GC to plan his own magnificent wedding (to a hot new boyfriend). Maybe a sugardaddy can slip him a few million. With no Mxolisi, we need a new thirst trap, so how about Mastermind going into business with a prison buddy to become his own boss at last. And we’ve all been whispering about the possibility of an Nkunzi- Gabisile (Baby Cele) secret baby for months, so bring the baby to town and let’s have a third “wife” in the house bossing Nkunzi around as they co-parent.