Caught in the middle
Poor innocent Nandi’s umemelo ceremony dreams are left in shatters thanks to her dad Frans’s secrets and boyfriend Khaya’s work at The Black Door brothel.
Khaya (Zamani Mbatha) isn’t working at brothel The Black Door because he wants to. He wants to open his own business, but thanks to his murdered brother, he now has to settle debts… using his body. He’s got no control over this part of his life – but he can control his relationship with innocent Nandi (Sibonginkosi Tenza). “Khaya tries to keep things quiet. He doesn’t go brag about his work and he doesn’t tell Nandi who he does business with,” says Zamani. But what neither could expect is that Nandi’s macho-man dad Frans (Siphiwe Nkosi) is paying money for access to Khaya’s body. “Frans is in the position where he’s ashamed of liking men. He very much wants to protect his image because he’s known for being a macho man, a guy’s guy. A lot of youngsters look upon him as a role model and his public image. What people think of him, is very important to Frans,” says Siphiwe. “Frans thinks that he’s what a man is meant to look like, even though he’s in the closet and doesn’t want that secret out.” But secrets never stay hidden…
IT’S A CELEBRATION
Nandi is celebrating her umemulo coming of age ceremony this fortnight, and Sibonginkosi says that it’s a huge thing for her character. “The ceremony is very important to Nandi and her parents. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and it doesn’t happen all that often anymore, the process of waiting and keeping her virginity until the young woman is ready to go into the world. It’s about respect and that’s something Nandi has for her parents and culture.”
There’s huge fanfare for Nandi and her umemulo because she’s the apple of her dad’s eye and she’s pure and innocent and a respectable young woman, says Siphiwe. “Frans loves his daughter. He only wants the best for her and for him to see her go through with such an important ceremony and rite of passage makes him very proud,” says the actor, adding, “Frans is like most parents, he wants to protect his daughter. He wants to make sure that Nandi is safe from some of the people he knows around town, people who’re heartless and have no morals. He tries to protect her and shield her, but he has too many secrets.”
GUYS ABOUT TOWN
Frans has chosen to stay in the closet with his homosexuality and that’s why he’s a patron of The Black Door – it’s a place where fantasies come true, no one judges you, and most importantly: No on is going to expose you. Because what excites you is your business. And for Frans, his business is Khaya…
“It’s attraction at first sight for Frans. He takes an interest in Khaya immediately – he likes Khaya’s physique and charming personality when he meets him at The Black Door,” says Siphiwe.
But he makes it clear that connecting Khaya the sexworker and Khaya his daughter’s boyfriend, whom he’s never met, isn’t a remote possibility. “He could never in his wildest imagination link the two personalities. One is a sexworker who hires out his body, the other is the man dating his innocent daughter. How could Frans think they’re the same guy?”
Zamani says that despite the two men’s business interactions at The Black Door, they’re both important to Nandi. “Khaya is her boyfriend and Frans is her dad. Why they’ve never met or don’t know what the other looks like is down to circumstance. There’s just not been that introduction yet. So neither knows who the other really is.” He adds, “Frans knows that Nandi has a boyfriend but doesn’t know that it’s ‘his’ Khaya, while Khaya knows about Nandi’s dad but isn’t aware that it’s his prospective brothel client. They have no shared history, so when they meet at The Black…
Black Door, that’s where they meet. It’s not like they’re going to sit down and talk about their personal lives, that’s not what goes on at The Black Door…”
MANLY MEET UP
The fact that Frans and Khaya come face to face for the first time in their private capacities at Nandi’s umemulo is purely by chance, explains Sibonginkosi. “It’s not really tradition for men – especially boyfriends – to be present at umemulo ceremonies, but Nandi sees Khaya’s presence as a symbol of his love and respect for her. It’s one of those things that Khaya keeps doing that makes Nandi love him more: He’s willing to break the rules for her. He doesn’t even come in traditional clothing, he doesn’t want to blend in.” Khaya doesn’t need to worry about blending in, because he’s going to steal Nandi’s thunder…
“We’ve never seen all three of them – Khaya, Nandi and Frans – together in the same place, at the same time.
It’s going to be interesting because the two men will point fingers at each other. ‘Hey, I know you,’ and then Nandi is left confused in the middle. Khaya sees Nandi at church but it’s with her mother, never Frans, who’s always busy,” explains Zamani. “Frans and Khaya’s only meeting so far has been at The Black Door and the ceremonry is the last place either would expect to bump into one another – Frans’s secret is a secret, and it’s not like Nandi is going to tell her dad what her boyfriend does for a living if she even knew; it’s Khaya’s secret too. I actually can’t wait for our viewers to see them meet in a different setting to The Black Door to see how things go. Will it be awkward? Will there be fireworks?”
Siphiwe makes it clear that his character won’t be taking any nonsense from Khaya, nor will he allow Khaya to ruin his family’s big day. “Frans doesn’t know what to think when he sees Khaya walk into the ceremony. He wants to protect Nandi but the last thing he thought he had to do is protect her from himself and his secrets.” The actor adds that Frans has dreams for Nandi that now may not include Khaya. “The point of this ceremony is to celebrate Nandi. He wants his daughter to get married to a responsible, good man without skele
tons in his closet, but that’s not what’s going to happen, is it? Frans has his own skeletons that people will look down on, but he wants Nandi to be safe and have a good life. With Khaya, that difficult.”
POINTING FINGERS
Siphiwe says that there’s a definite situation arising when Frans and Khaya are in the same space. “There’s definitely stares and threats. The two of them just stare at each other at umemulo. There’s definitely going to be a problem. At The Black Door there are terms and conditions. When they’re in public, there’s a problem! They try to keep their secrets but that’s also their power over each other – they go back and forth, ‘I’m going to tell on you’, ‘No, I’m going to tell on you,’ and that’s how things get messy in front of Nandi. And it’s drama that Nandi is definitely not expecting,” explains Sibonginkosi. “It’s a shock when Khaya walks in at the ceremony and sitthing there is Frans… Frans from The Black Door. They are the last people that either expects to see at a traditional, important spiritual and cultural ceremony that’s meant to be pure.” But Sibonginkosi adds that it’s not going to faze her character too much. “You know what? Khaya and Frans have got to get over this. They need to figure this out and how to go ahead in life.” Nandi can’t get away from her dad and she’s not willing to give up her romance with Khaya. “She wants to sleep with her boyfriend. That’s part of the reason she’s going through with this ceremony. It’s tainted though after all of this happens with Khaya and Frans.”
Nandi and her family don’t like being the centre of hot gossip around town, especially since there’s a scandalous brothel like The Black Door where anyand everything goes. But the two men clashing is going to see the family’s name on every tongue in town. “The outcome of Frans and Khaya’s meeting at the ceremony is a series of quarrels, which starts just as Khaya is about to leave. Frans confronts him and they have a go at each other. It’s a matter of one trying to be better than the other when they’re both kind of the same actually. ‘You shouldn’t be doing this to my daughter’, ‘No, you shouldn’t be doing this to your daughter!’ That’s when it all blows up in front of guests.”
THE MEN IN HER LIFE
Sibonginkosi admits that the outcome is going to upset her character and while Khaya won’t get out unscathed, it’s Frans who’ll bear the brunt of her anger. “Nandi’s relationship with Frans changes because he realises that the boy that he’s been seeing is actually his daughter’s boyfriend, and to some extent it’s his own guilt eating him inside, but it’s also that fatherly protective instinct.
You wouldn’t want to put your daughter through what this boy is doing, more so because it’s with him. Frans will have a lot of explaining to do to Nandi.”
PREVIOUSLY
Mam Rebs emotionally tortured Junior for cheating on her with one of her sexworkers, Jupiter had a hot date, and Khaya wasn’t sure if Nandi had broken up with him.
IN THIS ISSUE
Junior realises that Mam Rebs knows about him and Candy and he confides in the wrong person at The Black Door, and Khaya goes to Nandi’s home to see her. Jupiter’s date plan doesn’t meet expectations, and Nandi is confused by Khaya being on her doorstep. Mam Rebs gets revenge on Junior and there’s nothing he can do but accept his fate, and Jupiter gets dumped. Junior doesn’t know that Mam Rebs is planning to murder him, and Khaya is forced to deal with the consequences of his aggression issues.
Mam Rebs gathers Junior’s belongings and torches everything that reminds her of him, and Khaya and Frans come face to face again, but this time there is a very different discussion between the men. Jupiter’s heart is still broken and he’s struggling to get over his failed relationship, and Mam Rebs breaks down emotionally. One of the most infamous male prostitutes at The Black Door meets his love match, and Mam Rebs is furious when she discovers that Junior managed to escape his hitman and has gone on the run. Nkanyiso walks in on something not meant for his eyes and he’s got the urge to tell everyone what he’s seen, and Mam Rebs is oblivious to a circling threat. An important day turns into an embarrassment for a young woman, and Nkanyiso thinks that he’s finally got blackmail ammo on Mam Rebs. Khaya doesn’t know what to make of Nandi’s ceremony, a renewed romance is about to push one of the sexworker’s to his limits, and Frans is playing with fire.
CAST: Big Boy Nkululeko Selepe •Boniswa Mahlangu Gabisile Tshabalala •Bra Gibb Sello Ramalahloane •Bra Kenny Bhekumuzi Mkwanazi •Candy Melinda Lupindo •Chuma Sokhulu Thobani Nzuza
•Frans Siphiwe Nkosi •Junior Sandile Mfusi •Jupiter Oscar Mgudlwa
•Khaya Sokhulu Zamani Mbatha •Mam Rebecca Mahlangu Linda Sebezo •Mvubu Sandile Dlamini •Nandi Sibonginkosi Tenza •Nkanyiso Mzikayise Makroti •NoCollege Babalwa Sigcau •Nolitha Sibulele Ntlebi
•Nomsa Velaphi Mnisi •Ntsiki Nonhlupho Thelma Siboza •Romeo Mzamo Gcabashe •Rosina Noluthando Dloboyi •Steja Kere Nyawo
•Thenjiwe Sokhulu Nonkululeko Mbatha •Velaphi Kwanda Manyashi