BONGANI Madondo (37) didn’t want to be a TV actor, but when he shot to fame as detective Ndovela in the drama series Mtunzini.com, his interest in acting on TV grew.
Bongani, from Orlando West, Soweto used only to act in live theatre but he has been on TV since 2007.
Lately, he played the role of an old-fashioned Zulu, Sifiso Ntuli in Skeem Saam.
He started with the soap when it was still a 13 episode drama.
According to Bongani,
everything Sifiso does is laid back.
He said: “Sifiso always
appeases his ancestors through rituals and is close to his sister, MaNtuli (played by
Dieketseng Mnisi).
Bongani said he likes his role
because men like Sifiso who practice their customs still exist.
“I’m a Zulu man who respects his
culture and tradition.”
The actor said this role has taught him not to be ashamed of any setbacks in life.
“Sifiso had a tender, but loses it and is now a manager at Cafe Ruvowa. This shows that
with courage everything is possible.”
Before his TV gigs, Bongani ran his own
theatre company called Sizafri, which was known for plays like It aint over and The Hill.
“I wrote and directed It Ain’t Over which was about racism in Mzansi.”
It played at the Grahamstown Festival,
the Market Theatre Laboratory Festival,
Ishashalazi Community Festival and toured Sweden for a week. His last theatre work, The Hill, was directed by James Ngcobo.
“It was about a Sotho man who wanted a job and he had to be on a waiting list and stayed on the hill,” said Bongani.
Bongani said acting is a journey that he goes through in any character he plays.
“I do research about the role I play and
become the character. I’m no comedian though I seem to only play funny roles,” he said.
Bongani won the award for Best Supporting Actor in a comedy, Kota Life Crisis, on Mzansi Magic in 2016. One of his goals for this year is to revive his theatre company and help up-and-coming actors.
