Most of you are already hooked to your screens as Mzansi Magic have started showing their new telenovela, Gomora. Let’s meet some of the cast member who are bringing these characters to life.
Thathi played by Katlego Danke
Thathi grew up in Alex with her mother Sonto and her sister Beauty. She knew struggle as a child, although her mother always was able to provide for her through various criminal enterprises. Thathi was always the most beautiful girl in school, the most charismatic, and the most popular.
Thathi chose the easy life offered by her new husband Mbongeni. She raised two children with Mbongeni in the beautiful mansion he bought for their family. She never worked a day in her life.
Mbongeni played by Themba Ndaba
Mbongeni is the CEO and one of the major shareholders of CBS bank. An alpha male, extremely confident in his abilities. He is the husband to Thathi. He married her when he was in his late twenties and had just started the bank.
For years he’s been chowing money from clients, and at the start of the show, this fact finally catches up with him, when he realizes he’s going to lose everything.
Mam’Sonto played by Connie Chiume
Mam’Sonto had two children, Thathi and Beauty at an early age. But the father of her children abandoned her soon after she gave birth to them, and she was forced to raise them as an only mother. Over the years she grew to be strong, strict and powerful.
At first, she sold alcohol illegally and then she gradually got into other criminal enterprises. She never thought what she was doing was ‘wrong’, it was the only thing that she could do to keep food on the table for her family. She runs a shisa’nyama with her daughter Beauty.
Gladys played by Thembi Seete
Gladys is a social worker in Alex. She is a tough cookie. She’s the kind of person who will break the rules, as long as the result is good. She is street-smart and tough, and fervently believes in uplifting the community in which she works.
She is a mother to Ntobeko, but she is often so distracted by her work in the community that she doesn’t have enough time left over for her own son. Gladys is always adopting street kids or helping the less privileged. She ends up spending most of her money on helping others and keeps very little for herself.
Mondli played by Zolisa Xaluva
Mondli married to Gladys is the principal at the school in Alex. He is an extremely hard-working and principled man. He has ensured, through hard work and determination and his ability to inspire children and parents alike, that his school has a hundred percent pass rate.
He is very tough on his only child Ntobeko. Mondli is a pillar of the community. He and Gladys are seen as an upstanding family in Alex, helping keep the whole community together.
Ntobeko played by Ntobeko Sishi
Ntobeko is the son of Mondli and Gladys. He is extremely smart, and very good looking. However, he has always struggled in his family. From the outside, it looks like he has it all – the good looks, the intelligence, the perfect family. But it’s hard being Ntobeko. He feels enormous pressure to perform, but also has an extremely strict family environment.
He chooses to seek out the kind of love and appreciation he doesn’t get at home, in all the wrong places. He seeks affirmation from the dodgy elements and criminals in Alex. This desire for affirmation.
Buhle played by Amamkele Qamata
Buhle is the second child to Thathi and Mbongeni. She is a beautiful young girl, who takes after her mother. Unlike her brother, she is extremely popular at school – the Queen of the ‘In Crowd’. Everybody adores her, and looks up to her. But like her mother, she can be a bit of a snob. She is sassy, funny, and always speaks her mind, even if what she says might sometimes be hard to swallow.
Langa played by Siyabonga Xaba
Langa is the first born son of Thathi. He has grown up in luxury in Sandton, with a successful father and a beautiful mother. He is serious, smart, even earnest. He was a nerd in high school, in love with science and computer games. When their father dies, and he’s forced to return to Alex with his mother, he struggles enormously to fit into a township school and existence, because he’s known luxury all his life.
Beauty played by Siyasanga Papu
Beauty is Thathi’s younger sister. She has spent her whole life in her older sister’s shadow. She is the plain girl, who wasn’t terribly bright, but who always worked hard. She is a loyal friend, and a hard worker – but she will never get far in life, because she has a tendency towards bitterness. She has always had a complicated relationship with Thathi, because she is both jealous of her, and loves her.
Mazet played by Siphesihle Ndaba
Mazet is the gorgeous and dangerous young woman who tempts Ntobeko into a life of crime. She is an Alex girl, born and bread. She is feisty, but she has a tragic quality too. She is the product of an extremely broken home, the victim of abuse and an extremely unsavory history. She went to work for Mam’Sonto and found the mother figure she never had at home.
Teddy played by Sicelo Buthelezi
Teddy is the sweetheart of the show. He is not smart by any definition of the word. In fact, he’s dumb. Dumb as two brick. He failed grade 9 two years running, and eventually got pushed through. He struggles with reading; he struggles with memory. His mother drank while she was pregnant with him. His mother is an alcoholic and a bit of a mess. Gladys and Mondli have taken him in, and look after him because they know that his mother can’t.
Catch Gomora on Mzansi Magic DStv Channel 161 Monday to Friday at 19:30. Follow @MzansiMagic using #Gomora on Twitter and Facebook.