So Nandi's decided that this is It. She wants a divorce from her Generations heavyweight husband Jack Mabaso.
Last week Nandi made her intentions clear when she told Jack and her children and by Monday she was being wined, dined and danced by Mandla, played by Themba Nofemele.
We caught up with Brenda Mhlongo to get her take on her character's big move. Brenda was in KwaZulu-Natal when we spoke to her where she was visiting her family for a long weekend.
Her husband Edmund and their children live in KZN permanently so Brenda commutes between Joziburg and Durban when she's not bringing Nandi to life.
Here's what she has to say:
Brenda's take
TVSA: How do you feel about Nandi's decision?
Brenda: You know, I understand where MaNandi is, but in my head, as Brenda, I'm like, "You've been understanding this guy, that he is like
this, why are you leaving him now?"
I know when a woman is fed up, she is fed up, but I'm like, "You like this guy and you know he loves you, it's just that he's a thug and you married him not knowing that he's like this but then you got used to it so why are you changing now?" - that's Brenda's thing.
MaNandi is like: "It's long overdue," but Brenda is like: "What's new? He's not gonna do anything new now 'cos you've seen worse and you got used to it. Just leave as soon as you see you can't take it but if you've already handled everything all these years, just continue to handle it. You know you have the technique to handle all those things.
TVSA: Does she love Jack?
Brenda: Nandi loves Jack. She really loves Jack and also, she cares about him. Okay, maybe it's not love, but care. She cares about Jack so much. Even with the divorce process, she still worries: "How is he? How is he doing?" so she cares about him more than anything. She got used to him.
She even went to a psychiatric ward because of Jack's doing, so for MaNandi to let go of him now, I'm like, "Why are you separating your family?? You love your family like this and you always handle it."
You even came back from a psychiatric ward to take care of all these things because you know you are stronger and you're able to handle it now, continue to support him while you are a family."
TVSA: Have you yourself ever had any experience with divorce?
Brenda: No, not at all.
TVSA: Not in your family, not your parents?
Brenda: Not my parents, no-one in my family. With myself too. I never see myself going through a divorce because I'm so used to my husband, I still love him so much.
Each time we see each other it's like a honeymoon because we don't live together all the time so I don't see Brenda going through what MaNandi is going through now. It's something that it's not in my plans. *
laughs*
Nandi's take
TVSA: How much does she actually like Mandla on a scale of 1 to 10: 1 being she's just using him to smack Jack and 10 being that she genuinely likes him?
Brenda: I think she's just using Mandla to distract her from all the pressure of divorce, and also, she's using Mandla to see a different Nandi, she wants to find herself.
Mandla came when she was frustrated, when she was going through all this, I think she's just using Mandla, that's my thing.
She can't take the pain that Jack is going through and for her to get distracted and to find someone - she didn't plan it, she didn't plan to find someone - he came at the right time.
MaNandi is one of Jack's pillars of strength and she knows that. She knows that divorcing Jack is really breaking him, is really killing him and she can't handle that.
She might act strong in front of him but in the back of her mind she cares about him and it's hard for her to see Jack breaking.
I think she's trying to find herself without Jack - who is Nandi? - but in the back of her mind she knows that: "In as much as I need this man, he needs me too."
Your take?