It was Over and Out for
Sibongile & The Dlaminis last night and it's time for a new crowd of storytellers to step up this Monday (28 July) at 18h30 with Homecoming.
You know about the scenario because you've seen the 411
HERE - if not, here's a quick refresh followed by a snack pack of pix with the essence of each of the lead characters.
Back to the beginning
The show follows Zethu Hlongwane, a straight-A medical graduate hoping to become one of the country’s few Black female surgeons.
But when things don’t turn out how she had hoped, with no job or placement, she is forced to return to the village she left behind, in the rural town of Bergville, KwaZulu-Natal.
There, Zethu finds herself at the crossroads of two worlds, that of western medicine and traditional healing when she meets Thembinkosi's character Sifiso Kubheka.
Sifiso is a police officer by day and a traditional healer by night, challenging everything she thought she knew about love, healing and home.
Zethu Hlongwane
Played by Six Nyamane
Zethu Hlongwane, 28, is a fierce, opinionated doctor fresh from her internship in Johannesburg, where she graduated top of her class at Wits University.
Proud and resilient, she feels like an outsider in rural KZN.
She comes from a hardworking family: her mother cleaned homes, her father juggled odd jobs, and together they held their household together with threads of sacrifice and love.
Her older brother Ngarage is hot-headed, her younger sister Nomfundo idealistic and hopeful. Zethu was always the golden one - the hope. The one who would pull them all into a better life.
Now, back with no job, no money, and dreams deferred, Zethu feels like a fallen hero.
Her boyfriend Shobane works at Steve Biko Hospital while Zethu grapples with self-doubt and a cold homecoming.
Unapologetically principled, she challenges patriarchy and outdated norms, driven by a passion for medicine and justice.
Too proud to break, too tired to pretend, Zethu is determined to thrive, not just survive, on her own terms.
Zenzo Hlongwane
Played by Sipho Manzini
Zenzo, in his late 50s, is Zethu, Ngarage, and Lindiwe’s father. He's a proud yet flawed mechanic whose oily workshop doubles as a community hub.
He’s got stories for days, a boisterous laugh, and a patriarchal worldview that often clashes with the new world his daughter now walks in.
He boasts about Zethu, his “golden child” doctor, as a reflection of his own success, having poured everything into her education.
Her jobless return to KwaZulu-Natal stings his ego. In his mind, her achievements validate him.
He praises Zethu when she’s doing well, but can turn cold or even cruel when she stumbles. His love is conditional, filtered through expectations and the pressure he feels to maintain his own reputation.
With Ngarage, he’s disengaged, having given up on his son’s potential. Zethu accepts Zenzo’s flaws, but their bond teeters between affection and emotional exhaustion.
Sthopho Hlongwane aka MaShabalala
Played by Thuli Zulu
Sthopho Hlongwane, 54, is a resilient woman whose quiet strength holds her family together. Decades of selfless labor - cooking, cleaning, and raising siblings and children - have left her weary but resolute.
Lacking formal education, she possesses deep emotional wisdom and unshakable faith, finding solace in prayer.
Her daughter Zethu’s return home, unemployed and disheartened, breaks Sthopho’s heart, though she masks her pain.
She grapples with doubts about their sacrifices and her husband Zenzo’s emotional withdrawal, carrying the family’s burdens silently.
Each morning, she rises early, tending to her family and speaks softly to Zethu with unwavering hope, despite the grief she buries within.
Ngarage Hlongwane
Played by Sabelo Radebe
Ngarage, 31, is a hot-headed, defensive tavern worker who feels overshadowed by his sister Zethu, the family’s “golden hope.”
Resentful and wounded, he believes he was sacrificed for her success, having struggled in school, clashing with authority.
He blames Zethu for getting the family’s attention and opportunities, refusing to face his own missed chances.
When Zethu returns jobless, he mocks her but he’s also the one who fixes the back gate so she doesn’t have to, and the one who watches her out the corner of his eye with a worry he won’t name.
He’s softer with his younger sister Nomfundo, shielding her innocence and helping her quietly. In many ways, she’s the only person who sees the gentler side of him.
Ngarage sees his father as a man who failed them, while Zenzo sees Ngarage as a man refusing to take responsibility.
Ngarage is not a villain. He’s a man battling shame, identity and a longing to matter. He carries the invisible weight of being the firstborn in a household where he feels like the last to be considered.
Nomfundo Hlongwane
Played by Kiba Mavi
Nomfundo, 16, is the youngest Hlongwane sibling, balancing girlhood and womanhood.
To her family, she’s the innocent, obedient “baby,” but outside home, she’s playful, experimenting with makeup and music, flirting cautiously while remaining a virgin.
Bright and charming, she’s popular at school and admired by younger girls. Nomfundo idolizes her sister Zethu, aspiring to her bravery and elegance.
Preparing for the village’s virginity testing ceremony, she embraces tradition, basking in family pride. She feels pressure to be the next Zethu, seeing it as a crown, not a burden.
Hopeful and curious, Nomfundo is the hinge between the past and the future - the daughter of tradition, but the sister of progress.
Whether she stays within the lines drawn for her or eventually dares to cross them remains to be seen. But one thing is certain: Nomfundo is watching. And she’s becoming.
Shobane Khumalo
Played by Mpilo Mbatha
Shobane, 29, is a charismatic, confident doctor at Steve Biko Academic Hospital in Johannesburg, exuding swagger and prestige.
Raised in the same village as Zethu, his mother’s unwavering belief shaped him into a golden boy who owns any room.
Now thriving in the city, he relishes the attention and freedom of his success.
He's caught between guilt and resentment as Zethu's jobless return home and emotional struggles cast a shadow on his bright world.
Matron Khathazile Khumalo (Shobane's mother)
Played by Khombi Phetla
Matron Khathazile, 55, is a formidable nurse who rules the village clinic with an iron fist, seen as the ultimate authority in a healthcare-scarce community.
Unyielding and traditional, she dismisses young doctors like Zethu as arrogant and useless, clashing with her professionally and personally due to a decades-old rivalry over Zethu’s father, Zenzo.
Matron loved Zenzo but lost him to her best friend - Zethu’s mother Sthopo. She harbors resentment and undermines Zethu’s qualifications.
A single mother, she idolizes her son Shobane, treating him like royalty and deeming no woman, especially Zethu, worthy of him.
She treats him like a husband she never had, with an emotional intensity that often makes people uncomfortable.
She runs the virginity testing program with zeal and enforces old customs, rejecting modern critiques. Bitter yet brilliant, Matron clings to power and legacy.
Sifiso Kubheka
Played by Thembinkosi Mthembu
Sifiso, mid-30s, is a commanding policeman and traditional healer, radiating intensity and rebellion against broken systems.
He’s tall, fine and radiates an uncompromising fire.
The system failed him badly. His parents died during a service delivery protest, trampled in the chaos outside the hospital. He doesn’t trust hospitals. Doesn’t trust government healthcare.
When his wife, Mabuyi, is taken to the same hospital where his parents died, something inside him snaps.
On the streets, Sifiso is respected as a man of the law - ruthless, strategic and always a step ahead. But his roots run deeper than the badge.
His late father was a respected traditional healer, and while Sifiso once rejected that path, the call found him. The bones rattle at night. The dreams return. He begins to walk with one foot in the world of the living, and one in the ancestral realm.
Raising two teenage siblings with discipline and love, he’s loyal, unattainable, and fiercely principled.
Sifiso and Zethu represent ideological opposites. Where she sees data, he sees dreams. Where she prescribes antibiotics, he burns imphepho and chants.
Their conflict is never dramatic - it’s philosophical, generational, emotional. Zethu treats bodies. Sifiso treats meaning.
Mabuyi Kubheka aka (MaNkwanyane)
Shine Madela
Mabuyi, in her early 30s, is the steadfast heart of her home, balancing domesticity with quiet strength.
Married to Sifiso as a virgin, she takes pride in building their life, strategically managing finances to support family and dreams.
Once an Albany worker, she now runs a respected community kitchen with her kids’ help - it's a family hustle rooted in dignity.
Soft-spoken but sharp, she challenges nonsense and guides Sifiso’s siblings as a mentor.
She's secure, but not immune to fear. She trusts him - but the world is changing, fast.
Lerato Mokoena
Played by Obakeng Kgwedi
Lerato, 29, is bold, outspoken, and never apologetic about wanting more.
Originally from Soweto, Lerato is street-smart with hustle in her blood and dreams far bigger than the city she’s currently in.
She and Zethu became friends in their first year at Wits and grew into inseparable sisters over the years, sharing a tiny but vibrant flat in Braamfontein that pulsed with music, ambition, and late-night talks about changing the world.
Unlike Zethu, Lerato didn’t go into medicine - she studied Public Health and now juggles contract jobs, content creation, and NGO gigs to keep herself afloat.
Furious and heartbroken when Zethu returns jobless to KwaZulu-Natal, Lerato sees it as a step backward, urging her to chase job leads and global opportunities.
To Lerato, success isn't just about a job - it’s about movement. Momentum. Taking control of your own narrative before someone else writes it for you.
Councillor Shwabi Madlala
Played by Jabulani Masilela
Councillor Shwabi, 53, is a charismatic yet cunning ward councillor who wields power over village funds and opportunities.
His public charm masks self-interest; he skims budgets for personal gain, fixing just enough to maintain appearances.
Married to the much younger Mthandeni - once Zethu’s friend - he controls her quietly, expecting compliance.
Shwabi’s discreet affairs and unapologetic demeanor make him a polarizing figure: admired by some men as successful, distrusted by women as predatory.
Mthandeni Madlala aka (MaNgcobo)
Played by Amahle Khumalo
Mthandeni Madlala, 31, once Zethu’s vibrant friend with big city dreams, married Councillor Shwabi for a life of luxury.
Now Mrs Shwabi, she flaunts flawless style and a privileged life, envied by many. Yet, her comfort comes at a cost: a transactional marriage with an unfaithful husband.
Despite her curated image, she quietly envies Zethu’s freedom, wondering who truly has the better life: the woman with freedom, or the one with security.
Mthandeni is both a mirror and a warning - to Zethu, to the village girls, to herself.