Mamlambo (Gugu Gumede) is the heart of the community of KwaMashu. She’s the goto person for everyone who’s going through a rough patch and needs someone to save them. Whether they have been kicked out of home or need relationship advice or to communicate with their ancestors – she’s the girl.
So naturally when she hears the desperate prayer of prisoner Khathide (Tshepang Mohlomi) asking the Lord to help him get out of prison, her heartstrings move and she sweeps in wanting to help.
“Mamlambo knows Khathide from the community that she lives in,” explains Gugu.
“Mamlambo decides to assist Khathide because she was recently in prison [after finding a baby on her doorstep and keeping the child without going to the police] and she knows how it feels to be there. She understands what he’s going through.”
Soon Khathide’s prayers are answered and he’s released, trying to convince everyone who use to know him, and even Mamlambo, that he is a changed man and isn’t selling drugs anymore.
“Mamlambo doesn’t think that he’d play her for a fool – when she met him, he was praying. He didn’t see her until after praying, so the prayer was honest and from the heart,” says the actress.
Excited at the prospect of playing saviour again, Mamlambo serves her “friend” a seven-colours meal with no questions asked about why he was in prison.
“Mamlambo isn’t really aware of the kind of life that Khathide used to live. All that she is thinking is that she can rehabilitate him and bring out the goodness in him, irrespective of what he did,” says Gugu, adding that “Mamlambo doesn’t even have a clearcut plan on how she is going to help Khathide, but she’s told herself that she is going to give him the love he has missed out on while in prison.”
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