Actress Portia Ncwane is making her comeback on e.tv telenovela Imbewu: The Seed after a two-year hiatus.

Portia played Sli Ngwenya in 2018 before she went to represent Mzansi in Washington DC, and focused on theatre and film.

Though she was excited to be back, she said it was a difficult decision to make because her former colleague had died.

The 28-year-old from Newlands East, north of Durban, said Imbewu: The Seed had called and told her that her character would be coming back to the screen.
“It feels good to be back on screen. It was difficult to go back without my close friend Enhle Gambushe, who died in a car accident in 2018,” she said.

“We were close while acting on Imbewu: The Seed and outside.
“Going back on set felt like I’d see her again. But life and work must go on, although it’s difficult.”Portia said she’d nail her character to honour her late friend and keep viewers glued to their screens.

“My character, Sli, is a talkative person who always wants to be heard and respected.

“She’ll be getting closer to the arrested lady pastor kaMadonsela to test her relationship with the Bhengu family.

“Sli and I are different, but we share the fact that I also stand for what I believe in.”

In 2019, she left Mzansi for the USA after scoring a big opportunity to be part of the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders, held at the University of Delaware.

“I toured many places, like New York, while working in the country’s art industry. I came back last year and did my one-woman theatre play called The Journey of Growing Pains, staged at the Durban Playhouse. It was about the pains of growing up and celebrating life,” she said.

Portia has acted on Uzalo and on the film Love Lives Here. She is also a professional dancer and founder of Portia Ncwane Foundation, which uplifts the youth in terms of art.