Mbali Ngiba, who plays the character of Zodwa on Umkhokha: The Curse, has bid farewell to the popular Mzansi Magic telenovela.
On episode 12 of the second season of Umkhokha, which aired on Tuesday, Zodwa committed suicide.
MBALI NGIBA CONFIRMS ‘UMKHOKHA’ EXIT
The singer, who is a former Real Housewives of Durban cast member, confirmed her exit to ZiMoja, saying she is thankful to everyone.
“I want to thank everyone for supporting me, producers, characters, and everyone,” Ngiba said. “I want to thank my colleagues and everyone.”
WHY HER CONTRACT WAS TERMINATED
According to a source who spoke to the publication, the writers felt Ngiba’s character “was stagnant and there was not much they could do with her character.”
“When writers struggle to grow a character, the next thing they do is write them off, or kill them if they permanently want them gone. Mbali is not a terrible actress, she did well and she’s also kind and gentle. But they were stuck and didn’t know what to do with her role,” the source added.
THE HOTEL INCIDENT
Although she is a good actress, the source claimed that Ngiba’s viral outburst at Sandton Skye Hotel in Johannesburg in January this year resulted in her contract being terminated.
“That was bad. That put her in bad books with Gatsheni (Duma Ndlovu). He likes respect and that was the end for her,” shared the source.
In a video that circulated across social media platforms at the time, the former Durban Gen actress can be seen aggressively pointing her fingers at the guard and banging the reception desk while hurling insults at him.
“With a f*cken R4 000 salary you think you are everything. You are sleeping here because of us.
“Who do you think you are? Security that does not even earn much, you do not even have matric, ” Ngiba can be heard screaming.
MBALI NGIBA’S APOLOGY
Days later, the Ngizwide singer took to her Instagram account to apologise and blamed her behaviour on the alcohol.
“When we got into the hotel, we didn’t know we’d require a code to leave, and the person we came with had already left, so we got stuck and were unable to leave the hotel. I tried to reason with the security guard to open for us because of the situation we were in. When I tried talking to him, the security guard started having an attitude and just looked at us for an hour. Then I think there was something he said to me and I then lost it and used words that I shouldn’t have,” she said.
“We were getting hot and couldn’t breathe because there was no air-conditioning. So we asked him to at least open for us so we could stand outside while trying to resolve the situation. It has been some time now so I don’t remember properly, but the brother did not speak properly with me.”
Ngiba further apologised for her outburst, adding that she does not look down on people.
“I would like to apologise to the security officer, I stepped on his toes, as well as to those who know me. Know that I am not one to look down upon other people,” she said.
“I have disappointed my fans, I know that you did not expect that from me because you had never seen that side of me.”