Niki Bongco (Nolo Phiri) has finally gotten her man – Suffocate (Mduduzi Mabaso). And the two will be walking down the aisle tomorrow night but Suffocate is far from an eager groom. Debashine Thangevelo caught up with the popular Rhythm City actor to find out what’s going on…
MDUDUZI Mabaso has, during his time with Rhythm City, created a very lovable character with Suffocate.
Looking back, Suffocate cleaned up his act, leaving behind his ex-con and tsotsi reputation, by opening the Kilowatt club before joining David Genaro as his new BEE partner with club Zer011.
But while he has been rising up the ranks – with his bank balance swelling rather substantially along the way – and establishing himself as a respectable businessman, his love life has been a shambles.
He has been trapped between Puleng and Niki for way too long and the time came for him to choose. And decide, he did – but not with his heart.
With Niki pregnant and Puleng, who is the love of his life, rebuffing his proposal – he chose to do the right thing by the mother of his unborn child instead.
On his love quandary, Mabaso says: “Well, he is trying so hard not to hurt any of these girls. Suffocate has this soft spot for women. And kids. It has been quite hard to choose between the two.
“The whole kids thing goes back to his childhood and his mother. He knows what it is like to grow up without a father and he doesn’t want that to happen to his child.
“At the moment, Niki is more of a marriage of convenience – and obligation.”
So does he plan on just forgetting about Puleng? The actor points out, “Puleng has given up. She made the decision to not be with Suffocate and turned down his lobola.
“She says she doesn’t want to get married as she isn’t ready. So he failed (with her).”
“He loves Puleng very much. Niki is the second option. She makes herself attractive because of the pregnancy,” he notes.
Thankfully, Suffocate knows who he is getting into bed with as he is privy to Niki and her opportunistic past. “If we follow her history – she is kind of a gold-digger. She doesn’t want to be in an atmosphere where there is no money.
“They (Niki and Suffocate) started as friends with benefits. She works at Zer011. Got a promotion and became a hostess. And she was sleeping with David too, which saw her climb the ranks very fast.
“Suffocate impregnating her was a mistake. It happened when he was trying to fix things with Puleng.”
Very much like his character, Mabaso is a man of few words. But he does share a bit about his character’s big day, which airs on the channel tomorrow night.
He reveals that Suffocate did mess things up with Puleng by not telling her about Niki’s pregnancy when he found out.
Mabaso adds: “He decided to keep it a secret but, you know how these things are, word of mouth kept that from happening.”
On now walking down the aisle with a women he doesn’t love, the actor says: “Ja, he is not excited that much. There is a moment where he is talking to S’bu behind the chairs and sort of asks him, ‘Hey chief, do you really want to do this?’ You can see from Suffocate’s eyes and tone, he isn’t sure.”
However, he is a man of his word and, cold feet aside, he goes through with it.
Not big on a flashy wardrobe, Mabaso wasn’t too preoccupied with his wardrobe for the splashy affair. He jokes: “I am not the fashionista type. But Suffocate is wearing a beautiful grey suit.”
What’s next for Suffocate and Niki then?
“He didn’t marry the love of his life so there will be problems along the way. And he will cheat with Puleng. But I’m not sure what else the writers have planned,” shares Mabaso.
Sadly, this wedding has cost Suffocate more than he bargained for and the drama is just getting started. Gees, talk about a Suffo-cating situation!
• Don’t miss Suffocate and Niki’s big day on Rhythm City at 6.30pm tomorrow. The soap airs on weekdays.