Mbalenhle Mavimbela has been praised on Twitter as ‘the national wife’ for portraying Hlomu opposite Bonko Khoza and Wiseman Mncube as Mqhele Zulu. As the series ends, she reflects on her journey. In a statement to news reporters, Mbalenhle shared that the role of Hlomu has changed her life.
“Getting this character on such a huge platform, Showmax, has been life-changing: financially, mentally and work-wise in terms of how I approach my career,” said the Ladysmith-born actress.
“When people see me, they still see Hlomu and still talk about how Hlomu has touched them,” she said.
Hlomu and Mqhele’s tumultuous love story forced Hlomu to make a difficult choice between uncovering the truth and hiding it. She transformed from a passionate investigative journalist into the matriarch of the Zulu brothers’ criminal empire.
“I’ve had a couple of people cry when they see me. I think it’s because of the touching storyline that Hlomu has and how well I performed it. As much as I’m de-rolling, I think Hlomu will last in my life forever. People will always see Hlomu when they see me.
“I didn’t do it alone. I did it with my co-stars, with the team which was on the floor — the crew, directors, producers, writers, continuity, and production — and with Showmax, who could see how big the show was going to be.”
Watch the final trailer here:
In particular, she thanked the Zulu brothers who she acted opposite.
“Working with the brothers has been so amazing. The Zulu brothers became my brothers; we became family. Some of them still call me; we still hang out, even to this day. They’ve literally welcomed me as a mother, a little sister and a wife. I guess I will forever be that to them. Working with them was so amazing and so much fun. We spent so much time with each other and built great bonds. We learnt so much from each other and want to collaborate more.”
While she said she didn’t work as much with the other wives (Zandile and Naledi), she enjoyed the few moments she shared with them. The actress also expressed her gratitude to The Wife’s passionate fans.
“To the 5am gang, they are always going to be my people. I appreciate them for sharing so much love and support. I’m so grateful for how they accepted me. There were people that were sceptical about the fact that this was not the Hlomu they expected at first, and mostly those were probably people who have read Dudu Busani-Dube’s book.
“But people who didn’t read the book just fell in love with this new girl they’ve never seen. Even though I’ve done other shows, they fell in love with this girl who is performing such a heavy storyline that represents women in South Africa. So I just want to say thank you so much to the 5am gang. I love you guys and I hope we continue this relationship on social media and of course all the other work I will get.”