Performance flop
Newbie sexworker Khaya is struggling to keep up with his co-workers and it’s all in his head.
It’s been a horrid start to brand-new e.tv telenovela The Black Door for young truck driver Khaya (Zamani Mbatha). His brother Chuma (Thobani Nzuza) has been murdered and Khaya is being forced to repay the cash that Chuma stole from local business entrepreneur Mam Rebecca (Linda Sebenzo). And it’s not like Khaya is working in her factory. Instead, he’s got a job at her brothel The Black Door – and it’s because his sexual prowess is something all women in the area know about. But so far, he’s been something of a disappointment. “Khaya is actually like a walking corpse in his new ‘job’,” explains Zamani. “Khaya doesn’t feel anything [in what he’s doing]. He’s going through the motions of this. He doesn’t want to be here.” Not that he’s getting out of this deal anytime soon…
DEAL WITH THE DEVIL
Unlike his dearly departed brother, Khaya is an honest good guy. “Khaya has tried everything to get out of this debt. It’s not his, but he’s been forced to take over it,” says Zamani. “His new boss is dangerous and she’s not the kind of person to be messed with.” And as much as Khaya enjoys intimacy with women, that’s when it’s of his free will. So being forced into it and being expected to perform on command doesn’t work out. In fact, his first few clients are left both disappointed and unimpressed when the services they’ve bought aren’t honoured. “He doesn’t enjoy anything about being there. He doesn’t want to be there. It’s pressure that’s forced onto him and that affects him mentally,” adds the actor. “He has no option but to be put in this position…”
DOUBLE TIME
While Khaya is getting a comforting chat from Mam Rebecca, who wants her star employee to put on a show, he is also trying to figure out who murdered his brother. “Khaya is confused and it’s because there are so many questions that are left unanswered [about his brother’s death]. Thanks to gossip at
The Black Door, he’s found out that his sibling was doing the same thing [working a male prostitute],” says Zamani, who adds that Khaya’s family always thought highly of Chuma. “For Khaya, it’s unthinkable and unfair that he has been put into this situation.” But that isn’t going to fly with Mam Rebecca, who wants her cash register full and her clients satisfied at the end of the night. So Khaya had better get his head screwed on straight and get to work…