Coming to Mzansi Wethu (DStv Channel 163) from 28 July at 18:30, Homecoming follows Zethu Hlongwane (Mpume “Six” Nyamane), a straight-A medical graduate who finds herself returning home to rural Bergville, KZN, with her surgical dreams in tatters.
Among a stellar cast, Amahle Khumalo (Empini) plays young “shebeen queen” Mthandeni Madlala – an unusual character in reality and on screen, and, in many ways, the counterpoint to Zethu. “I was quite shocked when I found out that Mthandeni runs her own shebeen,” explains Khumalo. “A friend and I got out of our comfort zones and spent a lot of time in shebeens in Alexandra and Soweto, taking our time ekasi not only with the shebeen queens, but also with the patrons, learning about the culture that side. I’m grateful to the people who let me behind the curtain to see how a shebeen really operates.”
Watch trailer HERE
Mthandeni’s husband, Shwabi, is a ward councillor in Bergville who wields great power – and knows it. He’s the kind of man who knows how to work a room and a budget: charming, calculating, quietly feared and a less-than-faithful spouse. He seduced the younger Mthandeni with promises, a car, a ring and a life that looked like the definition of luxury. Now, her life and everything about her are the envy of every girl in town, especially when compared to Zethu, who left to chase her dreams and came back broken.
“I think as South Africans we understand the dynamic of ‘sugar daddies’ and ‘sugar babies’ and Mthandeni is a ‘victim’ of that dynamic. As glam as she looks, she’s not living a glamorous lifestyle and she’s yet to be honest with herself that this isn’t the life she actually wants for herself,” explains Khumalo. “She knows her place and her role – when you’re married to a man like Shwabi, you become his property and do what he says. Everything she thinks for herself comes second to what he’s planned for her.”
Amahle identifies with what Zethu goes through, as she also went back home in 2023 to start from scratch, reconfiguring her goals and dreams. “If you look at it, the story isn’t one of failure, it’s a ‘full circle’ moment for Zethu. She’s a product of a community that has always loved her; she was a top scholar at school – these people watched her grow up and everyone feels like they had a hand in helping her become a doctor,” she says.
“Though her dreams were to go to Johannesburg to study and make a career in Cuba, for some reason her journey brings her back home to help those very same people who helped set her up for success. It’s a beautiful story because going home and starting from scratch isn’t failing. She has an amazing opportunity to take the skills she learned and utilise them back home to make a difference.”
Amahle and Mpume star alongside a mix of talented fresh and familiar faces like Sipho Manzini (The Queen, iNkaba); Khombi Phetla (The River); Mpilo Mbatha (Shaka iLembe, The River) and Khayalethu Xaba (Shaka iLembe, Lavish).
“I think what was most fun about joining the cast of Homecoming was realising how young everyone is – it’s not common to get cast in a show as one of the oldest actors when you’re still a twenty-something!” says Amahle. “Six and I are friends in real life – we’ve known each other since meeting on another set a long time ago and I think it was another full circle moment, landing this job. We auditioned for Homecoming together – for the same role – and I was so excited for her when she called me to say that she’d landed the part of Zethu, and then a few days later I found out I’d been cast as Mthandeni and I was able to call her, and we could share in the excitement.”
What does she love about the show? “It’s a real story, reflective of the South Africa that we know. Everyone will see themselves in one of the characters. It’s beautifully written, so relatable and is nothing like anything South African viewers have ever seen before,” she says.
Don’t miss the premiere of Homecoming on Monday, 28 July at 18:30, running Mondays to Wednesdays on Mzansi Wethu (DStv Channel 163). Viewers can also stream and catch up on episodes on DStv Stream and join the conversation on Mzansi Wethu’s social media on X and Facebook using the hashtag #HomecomingMzansi.
