adminBongani Ndlovu Saturday Leisure Correspondent
IT is about 6.45pm on a Monday and people are rushing home. Impatient passengers are looking at their watches as the minutes edge closer to 7pm. Passengers have no kind words for the emergency taxi driver as he seems unaware why there is a rush. When the clock hits 7pm, Kukhulwa Kokuphela signature tune, “We Are Growing” by Julian Laxton, Margaret Singana and Patric Van Blerk, explodes on television, the calling signal for people to rush and watch arguably the most entertaining drama series ever made in post independent Zimbabwe.
The signature tune is also used in Shaka Zulu, a 1986 television series directed by William C. Faure and written by Joshua Sinclair for the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC).
All this bustle and hustle is to watch two uncouth characters, Silandulo and his stammering sidekick Donga, in the local drama Kukhulwa Kokuphela.
Leather Products, a company trading in raw hide (izikhumba) is being siphoned by Silandulo and Donga.
Characters such as Grey, MaMkhwebu and Khupe try their best to uncover their corrupt activities.
However, in every episode, with the cunning of a weasel and the slyness of a fox Silandulo and Donga manage to slip out.
Kukhulwa Kokuphela, a drama that was shot in Bulawayo from the late 70s and aired for six seasons ended in 2005.
In the final episode Grey fainted after his plan to turn people against Silandulo, played by Felix Moyo, failed. Also in the final episode, MaMkhwebu was standing over him using her apron to fan him.
Themes such as corruption, infidelity, victimisation and the demise of the Zimbabwean dollar were the order of the day during the local drama.
It was replete with the Matabeleland culture disseminating a people’s values and morals in an entertaining way.
Every Monday evening, viewers were curious to see how Silandulo and Donga would be caught and what plan Grey had in store to catch the two red handed. The drama had a famous saying that became a catch phrase whenever people were involved in underhand dealings, Kasikapule Donga!! (Let us feast Donga).
The yesteryear local dramas gripped viewers as the audience was educated while being entertained, a far cry from the local dramas of today.
Saturday Leisure this week tracked some of the cast members of the local drama.
Felix “Silandulo” Moyo said there is a Season Seven in the pipeline but funding was a stumbling block.
“We are always ready, the script is there. We meet as the cast from time to time to catch up. However, one time we wanted to shoot but businesspeople who we approached failed to work together. We decided that if they come together we will work with them,” said Moyo.
He said Silandulo was a sophisticated character who thought of grand plans and used Donga to scare other people at the company Leather Products. Donga was a person who, according to Moyo, had a suicidal admiration of Silandulo.
“Donga, played by the late Robert Mele, was a man in a relationship of manipulation with Silandulo. He was Silandulo’s praise singer and had what in psychology is called a suicidal admiration for him,” he said.
Moyo, who is a grandfather of five added: “Mele was an actor par excellence because in real life he did not stammer. I would like to say may his soul rest in peace.”
He said Mankazana, played by his real life daughter Nonhlanhla Crescentia Canaam, is now a lawyer at a company in South Africa and is married with two children.
Renowned historian Pathisa Nyathi, who played Nare who was the managing director at Leather Products where Silandulo and Donga were siphoning raw hide daily, said the drama was prophetic as it dealt with issues that affect people today.
“The drama was of high quality and the script was well written. The drama was able to foresee certain events for example corruption,” he said.
Nyathi said the drama was popular at the time because there was no other choice for viewers.
He attributed the quality of the drama also to the actors who were trained by Mthwakazi Actors and Writers Association (MAWA).
“Practice makes perfect but it also helped that we had training in acting from MAWA. We were people who were employed full time but passionate about the arts.”
Busybody MaMkhwebu, played by Dorcas Ncube, was a woman who knew everyone’s secret at Leather Products as she went into every office because of the nature of her job.
Ncube, who lives in Nketa 6, said at first she was not sure how people would react especially after the scene where she accused Silandulo of raping her.
She said Kukhulwa Kokuphela taught people about social taboos that were occurring then and are still taking place today.
“I was not sure about it especially the scene with Moyo. Society has misgivings about such scenes that have people feeling and touching each other,” said MaMkhwebu.
She said after the drama she went into farming at her homestead in Inyathi, Matabeleland South province.
MaMkhwebu is a widowed mother of three, two boys and a girl. Unfortunately her first born son died in 2009.
She was a consummate actor who brought her on screen character alive to an extent that viewers loved to hate her with a passion.
Jotham Ncube, who played Grey, said his character was that of a man on a mission bent on exposing the corrupt duo of Silandulo and Donga in the drama.
“Grey represented people who fight corruption and he tried by all means to expose Silandulo. He used MaMkhwebu to eavesdrop and gather information about the two,” said Ncube.
He said after the drama, he worked at National Railways of Zimbabwe and is the Passenger Services Manager for the Southern Region.
Ncube is married and has three boys.
Cornelious Mayuyu Ncube acted as Mqwayi, a traditionalist who was strongly opposed to churches labelling their leaders as bandits bent on stealing from their congregants in broad daylight in the name of offerings.
He said today’s dramas lacked relevance and were culturally obscene.
“Every drama which is now produced is about love, love, love. People want to see something else, something that has a moral to the story,” he said.
Cornelius, who left teaching and has penned six books, said that was why people preferred to watch Mukadota and Gringo because they were relevant to society.
“Some of these dramas do not speak about issues that affect society, making them unpopular. Some of them are impossible to watch as a family because people openly kiss and they have perverse themes,” he said.
Cornelius lives in Nkulumane and is married to Siphiwe and the couple has six children.
Hlengiwe Mpofu, who played one of the women who was conned of money by Silandulo after cooking at a party, said Mele introduced her into acting in the late 90s.
“I met Mele at the post office and he said I should go to MAWA offices and register and I did. I was called for auditions and that is how I got the role in thedrama, said Mpofu.
She quipped: “USilandulo kakasiphi imali yethu lakhathesi. Indaba le izakuyaphambili.”
Mpofu, a mother of two boys, lives in Pumula South with her husband.
Saturday Leisure found that Kukhulwa Kokuphela had lasting impact to viewers when it took to the streets of Bulawayo.
“Kukhulwa Kokuphela was and still is a peerless local drama. If Zimbabwe had continued on the momentum and standard that it set, very few people would be watching South African dramas and soapies because we would be having a vibrant industry of our own,” said Anele Khupe (44) of Pumula South.
Another viewer said; “We will never forget the laughter that always came with a practical lesson. We miss that drama and we need it back on television.”
Viewers nostalgically recalled some sound-bites from the highly vaunted series. Saturday Leisure collected the most popular;
Quotable quotes in the drama include the following:
Donga stammering asks Silandulo: Moyo aaaaaakubophisi lokhu!
Silandulo: Donga, Donga, Donga, ulambile kumbe usuthi.
Donga to maMkhwebu, Grey and Khupe: Lingakhulumi kubi ngo Silandulo. U,u,u,u,u,u, lamamega!
Silandulo to Grey: Ubonanzelela amagama akho nxa uwakhuluma kumele uwalolonge angabi lamaqhwala ukwenzela ukuthi nxa sumele uwaginye angakulimazi empinjeni
Gugu (played by Velisiwe Moyo) charging at Silandulo: Umlethe kimi uSilandulo nxa ekuhlupha, ngizambonisa into yamehlo ngekarati!!!
Gugu to maMkhwebu: UMoyo engakwethuseli ngenyoka efileyo!!
And. . .
Silandulo to Donga: Vala la! (ekhombela umlomo). Ubusuvula la (eqoqoda ikhanda).
Last but not least: Kasikapule Donga!
Online Reporter