Johannesburg – Dark and mysterious he is, an almighty and powerful inyanga who has arrived in the town of Emnyameni, and his name is Ngcuka, played by Albert “Ibokwe” Khoza.
He’s the face of fear. “Ibokwe” joins Smoke & Mirrors as Ngcuka.
by tendani.mathagu | 06 July 2023
Johannesburg – Dark and mysterious he is, an almighty and powerful inyanga who has arrived in the town of Emnyameni, and his name is Ngcuka, played by Albert “Ibokwe” Khoza.
Ngcuka is a powerful and ominous inyanga, and he’s closely linked to the UNHOLY TRINITY. He’s burly and androgynous looking, with an eccentric dress code and sensibility, unashamedly larger than life with all his beads, amulets and painted nails. Ngcuka has come to town for a sinister reason – to collect a debt, a costly debt that will require yet another unholy sacrifice.
Stay tuned to Smoke & Mirrors weeknights and watch it all unfold at 9PM on e.tvACTOR and performance artist, Albert “Ibokwe” Khoza, wants people to know the difference between a sangoma and a gedla.
They just scored a new role on e.tv’s Smokes & Mirrors, and they play as a gedla which is a witch or a wizard.
Ngcuka, the character, just made his debut on the e.tv show two weeks ago and it’s making waves.
Ibokwe (35) spoke to Daily Sun about the new role and how it educates people about the difference between isangoma and igedla. “As an actor, you have to do your research about your character, but because I’m a sangoma myself, I know about the dark world. So, I understood at that moment the depth from which I had to fetch this character.
“We’ve already seen how the image of izangoma have been tainted. There are people claiming to be izangoma but they are on the dark side. Hence, we need to know the difference between a sangoma and gedla. They deal with human sacrifices, and izangoma don’t deal with that. They don’t take life like that,” they said.
Ibokwe said the character was a challenge for them. “I was called in by the producers. They told me about the angle they wanted to take on Ngcuka, and I agreed to it. He’s not a sangoma. He’s a gedla, and I think we should start highlighting that. Sometimes in the industry, we confuse that.
“I took the role because I previously played a sangoma on The Estate and Rhythm City. So, when they convinced me about Ngcuka being a witch, I found it interesting. He fits into the world, and if it’s a story that has darkness, then Ngcuka should exist in it. I guess the power he possesses is needed by the big guns who operate in the dark,” the actor said.
They said more is coming from Ngcuka and the Unholy Trinity, who are Caesar, Jaxon, and Mthetho, played by Zolisa Xaluva, Meshack Mavuso–Magabane, and Kabomo Vilakazi.
“I think we can see that the Unholy Trinity is already unsettled, and there could be more of that and fear coming from them in the coming weeks,” Ibokwe said.
Catch Ibokwe on Smoke & Mirrors on e.tv, weekdays at 9pm.