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Arts Reporter
Bulawayo-based actress Zinhle Ngwenya, who last week made a cameo role in the popular South African soap House of Zwide, said she is happy with her role and career progress so far.
Ngwenya acts as a prophet in the soap which tells about the rags-to-riches tale of a fashionable Johannesburg family which brings high drama and ruthless ambition as it rises to the top of the cut-throat fashion industry.
Ngwenya, a fashion enthusiast, revealed in an interview that her role in the soap opened more doors for her.
“I started acting on the theatre stage in South Africa years back under Mahlodi production,” she said. “I was doing stage plays and theatre productions in the evenings because during the day I was working as an Intensive Care Unit sister at a hospital in a foreign country.
“My role in the House of Zwide is that of a prophet and I played it so well to the extent that it really suited me.”
Asked how she landed the role, Ngwenya said it was through her agency.
“I love acting and it is my passion,” she said. “So, I happened to hear about the auditions of the soap and I went for them. I was skeptical at first. Surprisingly, I got the role of the prophet and they contacted me via my agency.”
Ngwenya said she was spiritual too while acting, hence the role came naturally.
She has never featured in any local productions.
“I just started my career straight up in South Africa,” she said. “I have not worked with any local production, but it is also my desire to do one so that I take the lessons learnt from foreign productions.”
Ngwenya said due to work pressure, it was now difficult to balance the two careers — acting and nursing.
“I completed my academics in Zimbabwe then went to do a degree in nursing in South Africa and other posts,” she said. “The challenge I could say that I am facing right now is trying to balance the two careers, of which I am happy my directors understand my situation.
“I am sometimes affected by time and distance, thus I might be needed to shoot my role in one location then at the same time I get a call to come audition or act in another location.”
Ngwenya said her role model was Winnie Ntshaba, who plays Faith in the House of Zwide.
“She is so talented and well disciplined,” she said. “It was a dream come true for me acting alongside her. I didn’t know one day I would meet her.
“So during the production, at first I was very nervous acting alongside her. I had goose bumps, but it made me feel at home. I have learnt a lot from her, imagine exchanging lines with your role model.”
Apart from House of Zwide, Ngwenya said she had also clinched two other roles for some productions which will be on Netflix.
“I have been busy, up and down and right now have shot two productions for Netflix series and Showmax,” she said. “I can’t reveal the details of the productions based on the contracts that I have signed.
Ngwenya said Zimbabwe had talent that needed to be tamed, but more platforms needed to be opened and be easily accessible to everyone.
“It is just that some of us are not in the country,” she said. “I think we should do collaborations with artists based home and out so that we exchange notes. We have a lot of untamed talent here.”
Peter Tanyanyiwa
Online Reporter