It is said that behind every successful man is a strong woman with a vision. Just as there is a supportive neck to every head, many empires are built on the unshaken will of a woman.
This is no different in the Shabalala family – the new family gracing TV screens for the first time on Monday, 23 October at 19:30 on Mzansi Magic.
Although there is a patriarch at the helm of things on My Brother’s Keeper, the eldest makoti, Fakazile played by Zola Nombona wields the controlling power in the family.
With the traditional practice of ukungenwa, storyline is not one of a classic succession battle though.
Fakazile finds herself right at the centre of a practice that requires marrying one of her late husband’s brothers to keep her in the family. Except, chaos breaks out at almost every turn.
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Like Fakazile, Zola knew nothing about this practice before she stepped into her character.
“The process of ukungenwa is something that was foreign to me as uZola. I could only imagine how foreign it would be for uFakazile so that’s what we had in common. I couldn’t pretend that this is something that I do know because I didn’t. This helped to feed the feelings of Fakazile around why it was happening, especially now in 2023,” she says.
“For her to live in a space where she was somewhat forced. Circumstantially, she was kind of forced to get into it because she herself had a lot to lose and couldn’t just walk away like how any other modern woman would. I learnt a lot about submission and submitting into something for your own benefit,” Zola adds.
For the first time in her career though, Zola takes on the character of a mother. After her hiatus from our screens, she is more than excited about returning and this time, as a matured woman, one she refers to as a kingmaker.
As she sat pretty on a bedroom bench in what will be known as her parents-in-laws’ bedroom on set, Zola tells Drum that playing this character was not only a sign of growth in her career but also a sign of maturity in her craft.
“I’m a firm believer of Christ and the plans he has for me and before, I never understood why I had to take a hiatus because I was moving smoothly and then all of a sudden, I’m gone, I’m being a mother to my son. That helped me to grow within my artistry. Playing a mother is something that I’m appreciative of for coming [at a time that] I’m also a mother because now I understand a child, I can work with a child. He’s not just an actor, I can connect with him because I have a child myself.”
The lead actress adds that she’s grateful for it all.
With everything happening around Fakazile though, sorrow and sadness creeps in often.
In fact, on the day that Drum visited the scene, she had a crying scene that pierced everyone’s heart and commanded silence.
Even after this scene, Zola had tears running down as she gradually exited what seemed to be a trance that she walked into herself.
“It’s just about being honest. As actors, we are emotional athletes so it’s something that you learn throughout being in the industry. I’m so fortunate to be working with people that give me so much that I don’t need to search for it anywhere. I work with thespians, when we’re in a situation, we’re really in it that you yourself end up believing it, you even forget that there are cameras because you immerse within the situation. I don’t need much because I’m given everything to help me work towards getting into that space, so I use everything around me,” Zola explains pulling off one of her believable crying scenes.
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Now cracking jokes and laughing with everyone, the 32-year-old says her love for acting was reignited when she first met Fakazile on paper.
“I went through the script as deeply as I can before the havoc of actually shooting. There’s a lot of questions that I had to ask myself, there’s a lot of references I had to make and just learning from other people as well.”
Zola gushes over her character as she nervously waits to see how everyone will receive Fakazile in their homes.
