Fashioning Modern Africanism

The Mthatha-born actress has already earned DStv Mzansi Viewers’ Choice Award and SAFTA nominations this year for her fan-favourite role as Mandisa in  The Wife,  Showmax’s most popular series ever. Now she’s also stealing scenes in the African fantasy epic  Blood Psalms,  which had the most first-day views of any drama on Showmax ever.  In  Blood Psalms , she plays Sithenjwa, the mistress of Senator Jabari (SAFTA and Africa Movie Academy Awards nominee Richard Lukunku) of the mighty Great Nziwemabwe. She’s traveling with him to the Akachi citadel for the upcoming wedding of King Letsha (four time SAFTA winner Mothusi Magano), but she has her own reasons for attending.  When  The Wife  returns in November for Season 3, expect Twitter to be singing Zikhona’s praises for  Blood Psalms  every Wednesday and for  The Wife  every Thursday - especially as this season her character Mandisa goes through the most.  We caught up with the 37-year-old to find out more about starring in two hits sho

Khanyi Mbau ( Unmarried ,   Happiness Ever After ) has landed the biggest role of her career: she’s joining the record-breaking Showmax Original telenovela,   The Wife,  in the Season 2 lead role of Zandile The Resolute, playing the wife of Nkosana (fan-favourite Mondli Makhoba), the leader of the Zulu brothers’ crime family.   Eagle-eyed fans of the hit show, which has topped Twitter every Thursday since its launch, will get their first glimpse of Khanyi as Zandile in Thursday’s episodes.    While she does feature again - and more prominently - in Season 1, she’ll take centre stage in Season 2, which premieres on Showmax in February 2022, and will be inspired by Dudu Busani-Dube’s bestselling novel  Zandile The Resolute .  "Season 2 is told through the eyes of uZandile,” says Stained Glass showrunner Gugu Ncube-Zuma ( eHostela ,  Ifalakhe ). “We'll be exploring Nkosana and Zandile's love story and finding out more about their history. We'll get to know Zandile as the