Tonight (17 September) sees the arrival of a new and influential character on Scandal!
Keketso Khoza (played by Gontse Ntshegang) enters the scene as the extremely efficient and innovative new manager of RTs, Johannesburg - the press hangout, owned by Abbey (Michele Maxwell).
Mangi (Kagiso Modupe), son of and PA to NZH’s CEO, Daniel Nyathi (Sello Maake ka Ncube), falls hard and fast at the first sight of her (declaring that this is the woman who will bear his children). Even hardened businesswomen Abbey is highly impressed by Keketso’s creative ideas and hard work.
At 26, Keketso is street smart and sharp witted. She's beautiful, but doesn’t use her beauty as a crutch or a weapon. Keketso always wanted to be a chef but never had the opportunity to attend a college that had that particular course on offer, so she went into the hospitality side of the business.
She has a diploma in trade and tourism and fworked front of house for a while at a big hotel in Rosebank - which makes her perfect for her new job at Abbey’s bistro.
Keketso grew up in Soweto and is a typical “New age township girl”. She comes from a large family, so nothing fazes her. Keketso has a warm heart and is very understanding. She hates child abuse and volunteers for an orphanage that cares for HIV+ babies.
Keketso is also engaged to her childhood sweetheart, Lentswe Mokethi (played by Warren Masemola), who is the new art director for publishing giant, NZH.
The pair have have been firm friends from their first day in Std 6, when he swopped his polony sandwich for her cheese and tomato one.
The staff of Scandal! and independent weekly, The Voice, have yet to find out that they are in a relationship.
Keketso is an integral part of Lentswe’s life so she’s understandably making plans for their future: the marriage, the house, the babies...
What isn’t so clear, are the excuses Lentswe offers when she wants to set the wedding date. Politicians could take advanced classes from Lentswe in terms of the long and varied excuses he offers as to why they should wait.
As things unfold Scandal!’s production manager, Nhlanhla (Litha Bam), has all the answers - while being part of the problem.
More about Gontse Ntshegang
Gontse wanted to be a pharmacist when she grew up. Instead, she opted for the National School of the Arts, enrolling as a fine arts student, with a bit of drama, followed by full time drama at Wits University, which she dropped in her second year for physical theatre, set designs and film studies – “just to give myself more skills and understanding of the industry, I guess.”
Her main credits includea role in the stage production, Lion and the Jewel - alongside Scandal! cast members Nthati Moshesh and Sello Maake ka Ncube.
Of her role in the production and on Scandal! she says: "Being directed by James Ngcobo at the State Theatre earlier this year was a real big moment, compared to the stuff I had done for TV like the opening sequence for Channel O, a stint as an extra on Yizo Yizo 3, and a cameo on the medical series, Hillside. Scandal! is like being in the big league.”
Born in Meadowlands, the youngest of three sisters, Gontse describes herself as a typical Cancerian: “Sweet, very calm, loyal, and humble…somebody who really likes people…but we like to keep things in and are not confrontational.
“Honestly, when I read my character brief for Keketso, I went: this girl is a lot like me, except that she is half Zulu/Sotho, but the fact that’s she’s from Soweto and has that Urban Jozi thing going on means it’s easy for me to identify and relate to her.
"I mean when I grew up, I went through that whole confusing thing because when you’re raised in the township and have to go to school in the suburbs, you feel like you have to constantly balance these two different worlds and I get her on that level.
“She’s a bit of a socialist, she’s strong willed, she’s a go getter, she’s aware and sensitive to what’s going around her and I’m kinda like that as well. I think that sometimes I get so affected by what goes on around me, the strife, the things I can’t really change, but I’m working on that and look at the things that I can change, even if it’s those ripple effect situations that we’re usually not aware of.
“What I need to look out for now that I’m on a daily drama, is to continuously be on top of my game.”
Scandal!'s on e.tv Mondays to Thursdays at 19h30.
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