Diales in a dilemma
Uncle Cosmo plays Superman yet again for his niece Mbali on her birthday.
Uncles often have a very special place in their nieces’ hearts, and it’s no different for reformed gangster Cosmo (Ronnie Nyakale) and Mbali (Ditebogo Ledwaba), whose birthday is coming up. Her mom Lucy (Manaka Ranaka) had planned an intimate family-only dinner. But when Cosmo notices Mbali’s disappointed look at Lucy’s plans, he gets his brother-inlaw Mrekza to help plan a surprise party for Mbali. “Lucy has already decided on what’s happening for her daughter’s birthday, so Cosmo wants to do something exciting,” explains Kope. “Mrekza is worried because he doesn’t want to go against Lucy, but he agrees to Cosmo’s plan because he believes Mbali deserves more.”
DISAPPEARING ACT
But it looks like their efforts may be in vain as Mbali disappears without warning. “It’s the day of her surprise birthday party and Mbali’s family are excited. But when they try to call her, her phone goes straight to voicemail. Cosmo is worried about his niece and Lucy thinks that her daughter is just up to no good with her friends,” says Manaka. “Instead, Mbali decides to go to a music festival with her friends and ditch her family’s party plans.”
DURBAN TAKE OVER
As part of the surprise, the Diales had planned a Durban trip for Mbali as a gift, but since she’s sneaked around and ruined her family’s plans, Lucy puts her foot down. “Lucy is a no-nonsense parent and she tells Mbali that she’s not going to Durban anymore. Mrekza and Cosmo disagree with her, always rooting for Mbali,” says Manaka.
Mbali doesn’t see this as much of a punishment as she didn’t want to go without her friends anyway, but cool uncle Cosmo saves the day with a suggestion. “They should make it a family holiday instead!” Manaka reveals.
While preparing for the trip, Mbali’s granny Gog’Flo (Ivy Nkutha) is hurt about being excluded. “When they finally agree on the plans, Gog’Flo tells Lucy and Cosmo that she’s excited, only to have them tell her that ‘she’s too old to fly’ and won’t be coming with,” says Ivy.
But instead of fun in the sun, it’s a disaster because everyone splits up to do their own thing, leaving Cosmo somewhat dismayed. “Mbali hates seeing her uncle this disappointed, so she convinces Lucy and Mrekza to do at least one family activity with Cosmo,” Ditebogo says. And that may be the thing to fix the Diale dysfunction.